Nice AND Easy German Grammar

~ PASSPORT BOOKS
Nit.t 'n, £My

Just Enough Grammar to Help You Speak and Understand

Nice'n Easy • German.

Grammar

ISABEL WILLSHAW

Nice In Easy • German.

Grammar

~ ~~~o~~~1ub~~~O~

~ Lincolnwood, Illinois USA

Also available

Nice 'n Easy French Grammar Nice 'n Easy Spanish Grammar

Contents

Introduction 8

Verbs 12

Present tense 14

I mperfect tense .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. 17

Perfect tense: . .. . .. . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. .. . . .. .. 18

Pluperfect tense 24

Fu ture tense 25

Weak verbs 26

Strong verbs 27

Separable verbs 28

Modal verbs 34

Reflexive verbs 39

Imperative 42

Subjunctive ., 44

Passive 47

Sentence structure.. . .... .. . .. . .. . ...... .. . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . ... 51

Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63

Negatives 68

1991 Printing

Conjunctions 73

This edition first published in 1985 by Passport Books a division ofNTC Publishing Gwup,' , 4255 West Touhy Avenue,

Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646-1975 U.SA Originally published by Pan Books Ltd, e I. Willshaw 1983. All rights reserved. No part of this book mal'

be reproduced) stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

in any for~~ or,by any mean~, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, Or otherwise, WIthout the pnor written permission

ofNTC Publishing Group.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Nouns 75

Plural forms 77

Cases 80

Cases 81

Nominative case 81

Accusative case 84

Dative case 88

Genitive case 92

The definite article 94

I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ML 9 8 7 6 5

The indefinite article 97

Pronouns 99

Personal pronouns 99

Relative pronouns 106

Nice'n Easy • German.

Grammar

Adjectives 110

Comparison 116

Adverbs 119

Possessive adjectives 120

Someandany l23

Prepositions , ...................................................•........ 126

Numbers 139

Dates 146

Time 148'

Wordbuilding 153

Grammar patterns 161

Appendix 163

Strong verbs 163

Special verbs 165

Glossary of grammar terms 167

Index 171

8!Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

Introduction

You may have decided to buy this German grammar because you have been studying German for some time but have never really understood the system behind it. Perhaps you fell behind in the grammar when you missed a few classes. Perhaps you used a textbook that didn't give grammar explanations. Perhaps you already own a German grammar but can't make head or tail of it.

This book is designed to make German grammar accessible and understandable to people who do not want a thick reference book. It aims at keeping the explanations as clear and simple as possible and concentrates on those items of grammar essential to everyday conversation. It is also aimed at the person who enjoys coming to grips with the grammar of a foreign language and who may have already learned one or several foreign languages.

However, the most important idea behind this grammar book is this: grammar is your tool and no! your master. Grammar is merely the structure, the system of the language. Although it is important, it is not an end in itself. Living people do not talk or read or write grammar. So keep things in perspective. It is far more important to get your message across and make a few grammar mistakes than to keep quiet because you are afraid of making mistakes. People want to hear what you have to say. How you say it is definitely less important to them. Anyway, don't you occasionally make mistakes in your own language?

I am not trying to say that German grammar is simple. Wherever possible I have tried to reduce the complexities and point out the minimum you should know. The Learn by Heart sections should help you deal with very common situations without your having to remember all the rules.

Introduction/9

How to use this book

This book is not a course book. It is a reference book which can be used together with a course book. It is small enough to take on a visit to Germany. Because it is compact and deliberately focuses on certain high-priority areas of grammar, it is not an all-embracing, exhaustive reference work. It does not claim to cover all the subtleties and fine points of German grammar.

The book is arranged according to grammar topics, listed on the Contents page. The Index contains references to non-technical terms as well as grammar points. There is a Glossary of grammatical terms for quick reference on page 167.

Bear in mind that not all grammar points are equally important. This grammar has been designed primarily for people who want to communicate with confidence in German.

Each grammar topic is subdivided and contains information under various headings:

INTRODUCTION. This gives you a general introduction to the grammar point, and often indicates the sort of situations you will find it particularly helpful in.

EXPLANATION. This gives you some extra information about the grammar point, helps you to be aware of traps and to use it correctly. WHEN TO USE. This tells you in some detail the types of situation where the grammar point is appropriate.

HOW TO USE. This gets down to the 'nitty gritty', the hard-core information about the grammar point.

LEARN BY HEART. This is a very important section because it gives you the chance to practice what you have just learned. Once you have digested the information about the grammar point there are exercises in which you write down a missing part of the German sentence. The English translation is given alongside and the correct answer is at the bottom of the same page. This enables you to check your answer immediately. Then you can cover up one side or the other to help you learn the sentences by heart. If possible, write out the German sentences on a separate piece of paper. All the Learn by Hearl examples have been carefully chosen because you will either encounter them or want to say them yourself when in Germany.

lO/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

Help yourself

Your attitude towards language learning

Many of us have learned or tried to learn a foreign language at school or colleg~. For ~omeJt was a wonderful experience, but for many it was a great disappointment. It is easy to blame others - textbook writers teachers, poor facilities and so on, but very often the learner's own attitude contributes to the sense of disillusionment too. It takes native speakers 15 to 20 years to learn all the subtleties of a language. How can you possibly expect to" attain this standard under very different circumstances?

1. Aiming for perfection is unrealistic - so lower your expectations.

2. All foreign langua~e learning is an .experiment. In order to improve you have t.o make mistakes because It IS only through your mistakes that you Will learn.

3 ', Nobody will think ~ou are stupid if you try. They may very well think that you are stupid or extremely boring if you are always silent afraid to make a mistake. '

4. Try to develop a sensitivity to other people speaking the language. If you are n?t quite sure how to say something, try it out and ask others for ~elp. Listen and digest what they say - this is the best way of refining your own ability in a foreign language.

~o don:t aim for native-speaker perfection right away, but do aim at Improving your personal performance at your own pace. This means keeping your eyes and ears open, and asking questions, looking up things which puzzle you. Remind yourself why you are learning ~er!fo1an - your motivanon IS the most important single factor in msurmg your progress.

If your attitude towards language learning is positive and realistic, you WIll go a long way and make a lot of friends. Let your motto be 'I'll give It a try.' The Germans say 'Fragen kostet nichts' - it costs nothing to ask. So give It a try, have fun with your German grammar - and you'll succeed!

Introduction/l l

About you and German grammar

Help yourself learn by using what you know already. As a speaker of English, you already have a great deal of useful knowledge which will help you to learn German vocabulary and grammar.

English and German used to be one language, and many of the features of the two present-day languages are still closely related.

1. VOCABULARY

If you look at words like Mann (man), Freund (friend), Sohn (son), Tochter (daughter), Brut (bread), Butter (butter), Milch (milk) etc. you can see how closely many of the simple everyday words are linked. In addition, there are many more sophisticated, Latin-based words that the two languages have in common: Professor, Akademie, Museum, Universitat, Revolution, Opposition, Koalition etc.

2. GRAMMAR

It will help you to understand German grammar if you consider that English used to have a grammar system which was very similar to that of present-day German. English used to have lots of different endings, but we gradually got rid of most of them. In English, we now use word order instead of endings to show, for example, whether a noun is the subject or object of a verb.

But we still have some traces of the old system:

We form the plural by adding -s or -es or -en etc. to nouns. We still use he/him, lime, who/whom to show subject/object. We still have verb endings: I sit/he sits/you sit.

We also have lots of strong verbs: sing, sang, sung; write, wrote, written etc.

H you keep this in mind, you will perhaps accept more readily that although German may seem to be a 'difficult' language, it is in fact based on the same system as our own language.

12/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

Verbs

INTRODUCTION

Verbs are words like 'do', 'eat', 'drink', 'sit', 'stand'. They are often action words but they can also be words like 'be', 'stay', 'lie', 'wait' etc. which describe a state of affairs with no movement, a position etc. Every sentence, no matter how short, contains a verb. The verb is the hub of the sentence - the rest of the sentence is formed around it. When you look up a German verb in a dictionary, you will find various pieces of information:

1. The form of the verb you see in the dictionary will end in -en.

spiel en (to play) machen (to do) etc.

We call this the infinitive, which in English always has 'to' in front ofit, and in German always ends in -en. If you take away the -en ending you are left with the stem of the verb. It is to the stem that you add various verb endings.

2. Sometimes the dictionary will say 't.v.' or 'i.v.' (transitive verb or intransitive verb). 'Transitive' means that the verb can take a direct object (see p.84 if you do not. understand this term). So words like 'eat', 'drink' etc. are transitive because you can eat or drink something. But words like 'go' and 'lie' are intransitive because you can't go or lie something.

EXPLANATION

In order to use a verb, you have to know:

1. what type of verb it is;

2. what person or thing is performing the action;

3. what tense the verb is in;

4. where the verb is placed in that particular sentence.

1. Types of verbs

There are several types of verbs in German:

a) weak verbs or regular verbs (see p.26)

b) strong verbs or irregular verbs (see p.27)

c) separable verbs (see p.2S)

d) modal verbs (see p.34)

e) reflexive verbs (see p.39)

Verbs/13

2. The person or thing performing the action This could be:

Singular Plural
ich r wir we
du (informal) you ihr (informal) you
Sie (formal) you Sie (formal) you
er he, it sie they
sie she, it
es it der Mann, das Restaurant or any other singular noun Susanne or any other person man ('one' = person not specified)

Sometimes grammar books refer to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons.

die Manner, die Bucher or any other plural noun Susanne und Manfred or any other people

1st person 2nd person 3rd person

I, we you

he, she it, one, they + all nouns and names of people, places etc.

3. Tenses

Tenses are the forms of the verb which tell us when the action is/will be/was/taking place. The most important tenses are: the present; the imperfect (= the continuous past); the perfect (= the past); the pluperfect (= the past, one step further back than the perfect); the future. Each tense is formed differently. Some are variations of the stem + endings. Others are formed by combining the main verb with a second verb. We will also look at other forms, such as commands, the SUbjunctive etc.

4. Position of the verb in a sentence

In a simple sentence you will find the verb in the second position if the sentence is a statement (see p.51). However, in more complicated sentences where there are two or more verbs, the rules are different. See: modal verbs (p.34); conjunctions (p.73); and sentence structure (p.56).

14/Niee 'n Easy German Grammar

Present tense

INTRODUCTION

In English we can say ~ither, 'I read the newspaper' (implying habitual action), or 'I am reading the newspaper' (at this moment). These are both present tense for~s but have different meanings. In German, this difference does not exist. There is only one present tense to cover both ~eani?gs. ~o for. both of the above statements you would say, '[ch lese die ZeJ~ung . This IS one of the relatively few examples of German being simpler than English!

WHEN TO USE

You use the present tense in German:

a) To talk about what habitually happens.

Ieh lese jeden Morgen die Zeitung. I read the newspaper every morning.

b) To talk about what is happening now.

Ieh lese gerade die Zeitung. I'm reading the newspaper

right now.

e) To talk about what is going to happen in the near future.

Ieh komme nachste Woche naeh I'm coming home next week.

Hause.

HOW TO USE

1. Weak Verbs (= regular verbs)

Take -en off the infinitive and add these endings to the stem:

Singular Plural

ich -e wir -en

du -st ihr -t

Sie -en Sie)

er, sic, es ) sie

man -t plural noun -en

noun plural name

name

N.B. For details about the use of du/ibr see p.103.

Verbs Present tense/IS

Take, for example, the verb spielen (to play). You say:

lch spiele du spielst Sie spiel en er, sie, es ) man

der Mann spielt

Manfred

wir spielen ihr spielt

~:: :~~:: } spielen

Anna und Maria

If the stem ends in -t or -d, e.g. baden (to take a bath) or arbeiten (to work), you will have to add an extra e to the erlsie/es form in order to be able to say it. Otherwise you will sound as if you have a terrible stammer!

Er badet

Sic arbeitet

2. Strong verbs ( = irregular verbs)

Take -en off the infinitive and add the same endings to the stem as for weak verbs. But sometimes there will be a change in the stem for the du and erlsie/es forms. How can you tell whether there is a change? In a dictionary you might see: fahren C), or you will find the du (2nd person singular) form and the erlsie/es (3rd person singular) forms written out for you: du fahrst, er flihrt.

The change usually involves a radical change in vowel sound.

infi niti ve schlafen lesen essen

present tense stem changes

du schlafst er schlaft

du liest er llest

du i6t er i6t

Now check with your list of strong verbs (p.163) and write out the du and erlsie/es forms of the following very common verbs: nehmen, sprechen, sehen, helfen, tragen, treffen, werfen, geben. When you have written them down, practice saying them aloud. Make sure you pronounce the umlaut C) clearly if there is one, as well as the difference between e, i, and ie, ei. Write down the English meaning of the verb at the same time.


3. Present tense summary

Infinitive -----¢i ich~ I
= stem + H
-en erfsiefes ----{e)t

wirfsiefSie ~n N.B.

strong verbsstem change? er/sie/es - ?--{e)t

4. Sein

The only verb which doesn't fit into either pattern is sein (to be) (see p.165). The present tense is:

ichbin

du bist erfsie/es ist

wirsind ihrseid sie/Sie sind

PRACTICE/LEARN BY HEART

Talking about your daily routine. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb. They are all in the present tense.

1. Wir urn acht Uhr. We have breakfast at 8 o'clock.

2. Ich die Kinder urn Viertel At a quarter to nine I drive the

vor neun zur Schule. children to school.

3. Dann ich die Zeitung. Then I read the newspaper.

4. Dann ich zur Arbeit. Then I go to work.

5. Abends wir Musik. In the evening we listen to

music.

6. Wir Freunde. We visit friends.

ANSWERS

1. fruhstucken, 2. fahre. 3. lese. 4. gehe. 5. horen, 6. besuchen.

Verbs Imperfect tense/l?

Imperfect tense

INTRODUCTION

The imperfect tense (called Priiteritum in German grammar books) is used for description, for narrative and for continuous action in the past. You are most likely to encounter it when reading newspapers and stories.

WHEN TO USE

In practice you will often find yourself using the imperfect tense of:

sein (to be) ich/erfsie/es war (was) wirfSie/sie waren (were)

haben (to have) ichferfsiefes hatte (had) wirfSiefsie hatten (had)

because that's how you say where you have been, what was wrong with you, whether you enjoyed yourself etc. You will hear and read other verbs in the imperfect tense, but they are quite easy to recognize. By all means spend some time learning these, but you may find it more profitable to concentrate on other, higher priority areas of German grammar. As long as you can use sein and haben and can make intelligent guesses about the other verbs, you will get along very well.

HOW TO USE 1. Weak verbs

Take off the -en ending from the infinitive, add -te for the singular and -ten for the plural and Sie forms:

sagen (to say)

wir sag ten sie sagten Siesagten

ich sagte er/Sie/esfsagte

In other words:

I Infinitive ---------911 ~ ich/erlsie/es --te

wirfsie/Sie --ten

IS/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

2. Strong verbs

A complete list of strong verbs appears on pages 163-164. Take off the -en ending of the infinitive. There is always a significant change in the stem. There is no ending for the singular, but in the plural-en is added to the changed stem.

schlafen (to sleep)

ich/erlsie/es schlief wirlsie/Sie schliefen

fahren (to travel)

ich/er/sie/es fuhr wirlsie/Sie fuhren

In other words:

I Infinitive -----,n ~I change of stem ~I ic?/e~/sie!es no ending I I wlr/slelSle add -en

PRACTICE

Now do the same for: sehen, lesen, essen, ziehen, trinken, finden, geben. (Answers at the bottom of the page.)

Perfect tense

I'

INTRODUCTION

'Perfect' is another word for 'completed'. You use the perfect tense in German when you talk about completed action in the past. We do this in two ways in English:

1. Simple past tense: (ate an apple.

He waved goodbye.

2. Past tense with 'have' + ----ed or ----en:

r have fixed the doorhandle. He's replaced the fuse.

Have you eaten your breakfast?

ANSWERS

sah/sahen, las/lasen, aB/aBen, zog/zogen, trank/tranken, fandl fanden, gab/gaben.

r

Verbs Perfect tense/19

The examples under 2. are much closer to the present time, but in both

1. and 2. the action is complete.

You use the perfect for both of these in German, and you will need to use it whenever you are talking about the past.

HOW TO USE

To form the perfect tense, you use the present tense of haben (ich habe, er hat, Sie haben etc.) + the past participle of the verb. The past participle is the '-ed' or '-en' form you find in English '(have) replaced', 'eaten' etc.

To form a past participle in German:

Take the -en ending off the infinitive. Add ge- to the beginning of most verbs.

Add -t or -et ending to weak verbs. (This is parallel to adding '-ed' to English regular verbs.) Add -en ending to strong verbs (parallel to '-en' in English irregular verbs).

The past participle for strong verbs often has a radical change of stem, so check with the verb list on p.163 until you have learned them. Very often you can guess them because they are similar to the English forms:

singen gesungen sing sung

trinken getrunken drink drunk

~~I ge-----{e)t I

f-----j

strong

-r,-ge---(-Ch-a-n-g-e-o-r-s-te-m-?)-.-e-n',

Infinitive

Examples:

1. Weak verbs.

fragen (ask) --> gefragt arbeiten (work) --> gearbeitet 2. Strong verbs.

essen (cat) _,. gegessen fallen (fall) -> gefallen

stehlen (steal) _,. gestohlen brechen (break) --> gebrochen

Sometimes you think that a mouthful likegearbeilet can't be right, but it is.

machen (make) _,. gemacht antworten (answer) _,. geantwortet

,


PRACTICE

Write down the meaning and the past participle for each of these verbs: horen, tragen, nehmen, baden, sehen, helfen, sagen, ziehen, kosten.

Perfect tense word order

The form of haben goes in the usual 2nd position in statements and Ist position in questions and the past participle goes at the very end of the sentence. Everything else you want to say is sandwiched in the middle.

ich habe
ge--(e)t.
er/sle/es hat rest of sentence
wir/sie/Sie haben ge--- ?---en. Look at these examples:

Es hat den ganzen Tag geregnet. It rained all
day.
Er hat mir den Weg zum gezeigt. He showed
Bahnhof me the way
to the train
station.
Wir haben mit dem Beamten gesproehen. We talked to
the official. Negative

In these sentences nieht usually goes just before the past participle.

Er hat das Auto nieht genommen. He didn't take
the car.
Ich habe meinen Schirm nieht gefunden. I didn't find my
umbrella. ANSWERS

to hear, gehort: to carry, getragen; to take, genommen; to take a bath, gebadet; to see, gesehen; to help, geholfen; to say, gesagt; to pull, gezogen; to cost, gekostet.



Tell somebody what you did yesterday.

1. leh habe Pommes frites I had (ate) some French fries.

2. leh eine Tasse Kaffee I had (drank) a cup of coffee.

3. leh ein Bueh ..... I read a book.

4. leh das Essen..... I cooked the meal.

5. leh mit meinem Chef..... I talked to my boss.

6. leh einen Brief..... I wrote a letter.

7. leh einen Freund ..... I met a friend.

Verbs that do not add ge-

l. Some verbs do not add ge- to the beginning of the past participle because they already have a prefix and they are not separable. If a verb begins with be- emp- ent- er- ge· ver- zero you form the past participle by taking the -en ending off the infinitive and adding -(e)! for weak verbs and -en for strong verbs, together with a possible stem change. Here are some examples:

Weak verbs bestellen .... bestellt

emporen .... emport enttauschen _,. enttauscht

gehoren gehort

vermieten vermietet

Strong verbs

bekommen bekommen

empfehlen empfohlen

entscheiden -> entschieden gefalIen .... gefallen verstehen -> verstanden

The meanings of the above verbs follow in parentheses but are mixed up. Can you match them up correctly? (Please, rent, hire, anger, recommend, order, decide, understand, belong, get, disappoint)

2. Verbs ending in -ieren do not add ge- either. They are always weak, so add -t in the past participle:

diskutieren -> diskutiert operieren .... operiert

ANSWERS

1. gegessen. 2. habe ... getrunken. 3. habe ... gelesen. 4. habe .

gekocht. 5. habe ... gesprochen. 6. habe ... geschrieben. 7. habe .

getroffen.


REVIEW.PRACTICE

Write down the past participle of these verbs:

arbeiten, essen, lesen, trinken, kochen, besuchen, telefonieren, schreiben, treffen, fragen, tanzen, verstehen,

Verbs that take sein

INTRODUCTION

There is a small group of strong verbs that take sein (to be) instead of haben when they form the perfect tense. This is a nuisance, but since they are very common verbs you should learn them. If you know French, compare them with the verbs which take 'etrc'. The past participle is formed in exactly the same way as with haben and the word order is also unchanged. However, with the negative, nieht comes nearer to the beginning of the sentence than with haben.

HOW TO USE

leh bin
Er/sie/es ist (nieht) I rest of sentence I g~?---en. J
Wir/sie/Sie sind Examples:

Sie ist neulich gestorben, She died recently.
Wir sind nichtl zu FuB gelaufen. We didn't go on foot.
Sind Sie inSpanien gewesen? Have you been to Spain?
Sind Sie mitdemAuto gekornmen? Did you come by car? ANSWERS

gearbeitet, gegessen, gelesen, getrunken, gekocht, besucht, telefoniert, geschrieben, getroffen, gefragt, getanzt, verstanden.


The German verbs which take sein instead of haben are: 1. verbs of motion

laufen, kornrnen, gehen, fahren, fallen, !liegen, sehwimrnen, reisen, ein/steigen, aus/steigen, urn/steigen, an/kornrnen, ab/tahren, zusammen/stoBen, auf/stehen etc.

2. others

bleiben, sein, werden, sterben.

In a dictionary or word list you will recognize them like this:

laufen (infinitive), er lautt (present), lief (imperfect), ist gelaufen (perfect).

Notice that they are all strong verbs, so they take the -en ending and often change stem. Spend some time getting familiar with these verbs, since they are very useful in everyday German. In particular practice:

bleiben ich bin geblieben I stayed .

sein ich bin gewesen I was/have been

werden ich bin geworden I have become

LEARN BY HEART

Look up the past participle of the verb to the left of each sentence. Then say what you and your family did last weekend:

L fahren Wir ans Meer ..... We went to the seaside.

2. bleiben Wir zu Hause..... We stayed at home.

3. lauren Wir irn Wald We walked in the forest.

4. gehen Wir einkaufen . We went shopping.

5. kornrnen Wir sehr spat nach We got. home very late.

Hause .....

To sum up:

Checklist for using the perfect tense. I. Start with the infinitive.

2. Be sure that you want to use the perfect tense.

3. Is it a weak or a strong verb?

4. Does the past participle take ge· at the beginning?

5. Ifit is a strong verb, is there a stem change in the past participle?

ANSWERS

1. sind ... gefahren. 2. sind ... geblieben, 3. sind ... gelaufen. 4. sind ... gegangen. 5. sind ... gekommen.


6. Does it take haben or sein?

7. Is it a separable verb?

8. Remember the word order in the sentence.

You want to say: 'I visited my mother yesterday'. L To visit = besuchen,

2. It is perfect tense.

3. Besuchen is a weak verb.

4. Verbs with be- prefix do not take ge-. 5.

6. Takes haben,

7. Not separable.

8. Haben in 2nd position, past participle at end.

So you say: lch habe meine Mutter gestern besucht.

You want to say: 'I walked into town this morning'. 1. To walk = laufen.

2 . It is perfect tense.

3. Laufen is a strong verb.

4. Does take ge-,

5. No stem change.

6. Takes sein,

7. Not separable.

8. Sein in 2nd position, past participle at end.

So you sa y: lch bin heute morgen in die Stadt geiaufen.

Pluperfect tense

INTRODUCTION

The pluperfect tense (had done/seen/been etc.) is one stage further back in time than the perfect or imperfect. It is a direct translation of the English 'had done', 'had gone', etc.

HOW TO USE

The formation of the pluperfect is very similar to the perfect. Instead of the present tense of haben or sein + past participle, you use the imperfect tense of haben (hatte/hatten) or sein (war/waren) + past participle:

Verbs Pluperfect tense!25

Ich/er/sie war/harte ge-----(e)t (weak)
rest of sentence
Wir/sie/Sie warenlhatten ge-(?)--en (strong) For the small group of verbs which take sein see p.23.

You often find the pluperfect used after nachdem (after), bevor (before), als (when).

Future tense

INTRODUCTION

The simplest and most popular way of talking about the future is to use the present tense together with a future time reference, like 'tomorrow', 'next year' etc.

Ich fahre nachste Woche nach I'm going to Munich next week.

Munchen.

In lwei Monaten sind wir wieder We'll be hack in two months' time.

luruck.

Wann sind Sic wieder da? When win you be back?

There is also a real future tense, which is given here mainly for your reference.

HOW TO USE

To form the future tense, use the present tense of the verb werden + the infinitive of the verb. Werden is being used as an auxiliary verb, which means that its role is to help form the future tense.

lch werde
Du wirst
Er/sie/es wird infinitive of
Wir werden rest of sentence main verb
lhr werdet
Sie/sie werden 26/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

The main verb, the one in the infinitive form, goes at the end of the sentence, the present tense of werden goes in the normal verb position - 2nd position for statements, tst position for questions - and the rest of the sentence is sandwiched in the middle.

Examples;

Es wird regnen. It's going to rain.
Es wird heute nachmittag regnen. It will rain this
afternoon.
Ich werde in Berlin Musik studieren, I'm going to study
music in Berlin. Important;

Do not confuse 1. the future tense using werden with 2. expressions with wollen (to want or intend to do something);

Er wird Deutsch studleren, He will study German.

Er will Deutsch studieren. He wants to study German.

There's a world of difference between the two! It's a very tempting mistake for English speakers to make, so be on your guard.

Weak verbs

Weak verbs are regular verbs. If a verb in a dictionary has no distinguishing marks, you can assume that it is weak. All verbs ending in -ieren are weak.

Verbs Strong verbs/27

Strong verbs

INTRODUCTION

Strong verbs are irregular verbs. This means that they act differently from weak or regular verbs. They may have different endings and the stem may change. You can recognize a strong verb in a dictionary because it will have 'ir.' (irregular) after it or there may be an indication of stem change in parentheses after the verb: halten (a, ie, a), to stop.

Next to adjective endings, Wong verbs will be the most complicated feature of German grammar you will have to try to master. Please don't try to learn all the strong verbs in one day or you will lose all hope. A useful strategy is to learn three or four every day. The good thing about strong verbs (although you may not think so) is that they are very common, so that when you are in Germany you will constantly hear them in use - and this will help you learn the correct forms. You won't be able to avoid using them yourself, so it's in your own interest to try and learn them. You will!

Once source of comfort is that you have already mastered one system of strong verbs. English also has strong verbs. You may not have thought about this before, but look at these examples:

find I have found stem change just like German strong

verbs.

eat I have eaten write I have written

'-en' ending.

stem change + '-en' ending.

Use your knowledge of English to help you learn German strong verbs. You are not starting from scratch!

Weak verbs follow the rules for all the tenses, so you don't have to

worry about stem changes etc. HOW TO USE

The tenses in which strong verbs most often change are;

1. Present tense: dn/erlsiefes forms often have a stem change.

halten (a) to stop lesen (ie) to read

du haltst du liest

er halt er hest

28/Nicc 'n Easy German Grammar

2. Imperfect tense: all strong verbs have a stem change throughout; the singular takes no ending, the plural adds -en.

halten (ie) der Bus hielt sie hielten

lesen (a) ich las wir lasen

3. Perfect tense: there is often a stem change in the past participle and the past participle ends in -en,

halten (a) Der Bus hat gehalten,

riechen (0) to smell Es hat nach Fisch gerochen.

Sometimes you may suspect a verb is strong and you may want to use it in the perfect tense. If you don't have a dictionary handy, try inventing a 'Germanized' version of the English past participle - and watch the other person's reaction. If it's right, you'll feel very pleased with yourself. If it's wrong, he may still guess your meaning and be able to tell you the correct version.

Separable verbs

INTRODUCTION

Certain verbs in German split into two parts. We have a similar pattern in English. We say: I'll go up the stairs.

I'll look it up in the dictionary. Have you made your mind up? Take your shoes and socks off.

EXPLANATION

You can often recognize German separable verbs in a word list because there is a slash mark (/) between the two parts that separate. The first part of the verb is the prefix and the second part is the real stem of the verb.

These are the most common prefixes you will come across:

ab ein nach zu

an fern vor zuriick

auf mit weg zusammen

Verbs Separable verbs/29

Verbs which begin with durch, urn, iiber, wieder are sometimes separable but not always. See p.32 for details.

You can hear when a verb is separable because the prefix is stressed. You say einsteigen and not emsteigen. This is in contrast to other verbs with inseparable prefixes, which take the stress on the main stem of the verb.

HOW TO USE

Separable verbs can be either strong or weak and can take either haben or sein in the perfect or pluperfect tense and they follow the usual rules for verbs of that type.

1. Present tense

1. Take off the -en ending from the infinitive. 2. Split the prefix from main stem. 3. The prefix goes at the end of the sentence. 4. The stem adds the present tense ending. If it's a strong verb, there may be a change of stem. The stem stands in the usual verb position in the sentence.

Infinitive stem+present tense prefix
splits endings
Ich--e
-/---en Er/sie/es --(e)t rest of sentence -
Wir/sie/Sie --en You want to say: 'The train is arriving at half past five tomorrow'. To arrive is ankommen (an/kommen); der Zug takes -I ending.

Der Zug kommtmorgen urn halb sechs an.

You want to ask: 'Do you close as early as 12 o'clock?' To close is zumachen (zu/machen); Sic takes -en ending. In a question, the verb goes in the first position.

Mechen Sie schon urn 12 Uhr zu?

You want to say: 'The concert begins in a quarterofan hour's time'. To begin is anfangen (an/fangen); das Konzert takes -t ending. Anfangen is a strong verb with stem change a-c>a.

Das Konzert fang( in einer Viertelstunde an.


2. Imperfect tense

1. Take off the -en ending from the infinitive. 2. Split the prefix from the main stem. 3. The prefix goes at the end of the sentence. 4. The stem adds -te or -ten if it is a weak verb. Strong verbs have a stem change + no ending in the singular, add -en in the plural. The stem stands in the usual verb position in the sentence.

1 2 3 4
Ich/er/sie/es stem
Infinitive strong change,
splits no
ending rest of
sentence prefix
WirfsiefSie stem
change,
+ -en
-/~ weak lchlerfsie/es --te
Wirfsie/Sie --ten You want to say: 'He was just closing the window'. To close is zumachen (zufmachen); machen is a weak verb, so the er form takes -te ending.

Er mschte gerade das Fenster zu.

You want to say: 'The conference took place in the Adelphi Hotel'. To take place is stattfinden (statt/finden); finden is a strong verb with a stem change from i-->a, die Konferenz is singular, so the verb has no ending.

Die Konferenz land im Hotel Adelphi statt.

3. Perfect tense HOW TO USE

To form the past participle:

1. Remove the -en ending from the infinitive.

2. Split the prefix and the main verb.

3. Insert ·ge- between the prefix and the main verb.

4. Add -(ell ending for weak verbs.

Add -en ending for strong verbs, plus a possible stem change.


~ 'I insert-ge- ~ add ending

l.==:::=_j -ge-- -ge--(e)t weak

-ge- ?~n strong

Most separable verbs take haben, but some take sein (see p.23). The past participle as usual goes at the end of the sentence.

Example:

Wir haben viele Leute We got to know a lot of people.

kennengelemt.

Sie heben noch nicht aufgemacht. They haven't opened yet.

Wann haben Sie damit When did you start it?

angefangen?

Wir sind punktiich angekommen. We arrived on time.

PRACTICE

Consult your dictionary or verb Jist and write down a) the past participle and b) whether the following verbs take haben or sein: abschleppen (to tow away); aufhoren (to stop); zumachen (to close); anziehen (to put on clothes); anrufen (to phone); aussteigen (to get out of a vehicle); ankommen (to arrive).

LEARN BY HEART

Choose the correct verb from this list, put it into the perfect tense, then complete the following questions which you might find useful when you want some information: zumachen einkaufen anrufen

1. Frau Schmidt schon ..... ?

2. der Zug schon ..... ?

3 Sie schon ..... ?

4 der Laden schon ..... ?

5 der Zug aus

Braunschweig ..... ?

ankommen abfahren

Has Frau Schmidt phoned? Has the train already left?

Have you already been shopping? Has the store already closed?

Has the train from Braunschweig

arrived?

ANSWERS 1. Practice

abgeschleppt, autgehort, zugemacht, angezoge.n, angerufen + haben ausgestiegen, angekommen + sein

2. Learn by heart

1. Hat angerufen. 2. Ist abgefahren. 3. Haben ... eingekauft.

4. Hat zugemacht. 5. Ist angekommen.

r


4. Pluperfect tense .

The pluperfect tense follows exactly the same pattern as the perfect tense, except that instead of the present tense of haben and sem, you use the imperfect.

hatten I waren

ich/er/sie/es

hatte I war

wirlsie/Sie

5. After modal verbs and werden (future tense) .

Modal verbs (see p.34 for details) or forms of werden stand rn the usual main verb position while separable verbs go at the end of the sentence and are in the infinitive form, so they do not split:

1 2 3 4
Ich werde/mochte/ etc. -/----en.
infinitive of
Erlsie/es wirdlmochtel rest of sentence separable
werden/mochten verb
Wirlsie/Sie Ich mochtemeine Familie Bnrufen. I'd like to phone my family. .

Wann werden Sie in Frankfurt When will you arrive in Frankfurt?

ankommen?

EXPLANATION .

Unfortunately the prefixes urn- durch- iiber- and wi~der- sometimes indicate a separable verb and sometimes not. There IS no easy way to tell which one is separable - you have to keep your eyes and ears open. Separable verbs are stressed on the prefix, whereas verbs which don't separate are stressed on the stem. Here are a few common examples:

separable

um/zlehen to move (to a new location)

durch/fahren (to travel through)

not separable umgehen (to avoid)

durchdenken (to think

something through) wiederMlen (to repeat)

wieder/sehen (to see again)


LEARN BY HEART

You are talking to a friend who is going to Berlin. Using the verbs from the list at the bottom, write down what you would say in German.

Wann Sie heute ..... ?

Wann lhr Zug?

Wann Sie ?

Urn wieviel Uhr Sie in Berlin

..... ?

Wer ... Sie vom Bahnhof ..... ?

Separable verbs are used a lot in everyday conversation. Here are a few farewell messages you might hear. The English translations have been mixed up. Can you match the correct English sentence with the German one?

A. Come back soon!

B. Phone us next week!

C. I hope you arrive safely.

D. Don'! spend too much money!

E. Have a good rest!

Notice that in the imperative (or, command) form, the verb goes in the first position and the prefix goes at the end of the sentence.

ANSWERS 1 st exerci se

1. sind ... aufgestanden; 2. fahrt ... ab; 3. kornrnen ... zuruck; 4. kommen ... an; 5. holt ... ab; 6. rufen ... an.

2nd exercise

1. D; 2. C; 3. A; 4. E; 5. B.

1. What time did you get up today?

2. When does your train leave?

3. When are you coming back?

4. What time do you arrive in Berlin?

5. Who's picking you up at the station?

6. When will you phone me? Wann ... Sie mich ..... ?

abholen, abfahren, anrufen, aufstehen, zuriickkommen, ankommen

1. Geben Sic nieht zuviei Geld aus!

2. Kommen Sie gut an!

3. Kommen Sie bald wieder!

4. Ruhen Sie sich gut aus!

5. Rufen Sie uns niichste Woche an!


Modal verbs

INTRODUCTION

When dealing with other people it's important to be polite and appreciative. Modal verbs ('can', 'should', 'have to', etc.) help you, for example, to make polite requests or offer help to someone, and are especially effective when combined with bitte, danke or entschuldigen Sie (excuse me). They provide you with a much more sophisticated way of giving orders than simply using the imperative. Look at the difference between 'Bring me another piece of bread' (imperative) and 'Could you please bring me another piece of bread?'. 'Could' is a modal verb and it turns the order into a request.

It's worth taking the trouble to learn and practice these verbs because you can combine them with hundreds of other verbs to make lots of different sentences. They will be invaluable to you in stores, banks, going to the theater - whenever you are in contact with German people.

EXPLANATION

The nice thing about modal verbs is that there are only two forms for each tense. To form the singular of the present tense, take off the -en from the infinitive. There may be a change of stem and there is no ending. The plural form of the present tense is exactly the same as the infinitive:

Infinitive Ich/erlsie/es no ending + possible will
~ stem change ____,..
wollen Wirlsie/Sie same as infinitive wollen Here is a complete list of the modal verbs:

mussen durfen konnen wollen sollen miigen
must may can could want to shall would like to
ich ) mull
er darf kann konnte will soli miichte
sic
es
~ir } mussen durfen konncn kiinntcn wollen sollen mochten
SIC
Sic Verbs Modal verbs/35

I

HOW TO USE

Modal verbs cannot stand on their own because the meaning of the sentence would be incomplete. They are always used with a second verb. When using the present tense, the modal verb stands in the usual verb position (see p.51) and the second verb goes at the end of the sentence and is in the infinitive form:

Ichlerlsie/es mull
rest of sentence infinitive of 2nd
Wir/sie/Sie miissen verb Look at these examples:

Ich muD jetzt nach Hause gehen. Wir mochten jetzt bestelten, Kann ich mit einem Scheck

bezahlen?

You will soon get into the habit of putting the second verb at the endvery often German p~ople will finish the sentence for you! People will still understand you If you put the second verb in the middle of the sentence but you will sound very American because the rhythm is wrong.

I have to go home now. We'd like to order now. Can I pay by check?

LEARN BY HEART

1. Here are some very polite expressions which will help you to get what you want without offending other people:

Ich mechte zahlen/ein Zimmer I'd like to pay/book a room/reserve

bestellenlPlatze reservieren. seats.

Darfich hier rauchen/parken? May I smoke/park here?

Mu8 ich lange warten? Do I have to wait long?

Konnten Sie mir bitte helfen? Could you please help me?

Konnten Sie mir bitte Could you please tell/show me ... ?

sagenizeigen ... ?

Konnten Sie das bitte wiederholenl Could you please repeat/spell tha t? buchstabieren?

Konnten Sie etwas lauter/leiserl Could you please speak a bit

langsamer sprechen? louderlsofter/more slowly?

2. Offers of help:

Kann ich Ihnen helfen? Soli ich Sie urn sieben Uhr

wecken?

Can I help you?

Would you like me to wake you at seven o'clock?


3. Suggestions:

Wollen wir in die Stadt fahren? Wir konnten ins Theater gehen. Mochten Sie das Museum sehen?

Shall we go into town?

We could go to the theater. Would you like to see the

museum?

1 can really recommend the movie.

Ich kann den Film wirklich empfehlen.

EXPLANATION

Some notes about individual modal verbs: 1. wolien = to want to

N.B. Ieh will does not mean 'I will' (future). See future tense, p.25. Wollen + nieht indicates unwillingness to do something and can be strong enough to mean outright refusal to do something.

Das will ich doeh nicht machen.

1 don't want to do itlI'm not going to do it.

The imperfect tense of wollen is: ich/erlsie/es wirlsie/Sie

wollte = wanted wollten = wanted

2. MochteJmoehten = would like (to)

There is no verb mochten. These forms are a part of the verb mogen = to like, but they are used just like modal verbs. It is important to recognize the difference in tone between saying:

Ich will ein Shick Kuehen. r want a piece of cake. (a bit rude)

Ich mochte ein Stiick Kuehen. I'd like a piece of cake. (much

more polite)

Try not to confuse ich mechte (I would like) and ich wollte (I wanted).

3. Kimnen = to be able to kann/kormen = can

konnte/kcnnten = could

4. Miissenldurfen

Ich mull = I must, 1 have to

Ich darf = 1 may, I am allowed to.

But contrary to what you might expect,

Ich mull nicht = 1 don't have to (literally 'I don't must").

Sie mussen nieht vorher anrufen. You don't have to phone ill advance.

Sie konnen eine Flasche Wein bringen, Sie mussen aber nicht.

Verbs Modal verbs/37

You can bring a bottle of wine, but you don't have to.

If you want to say 'should not', use durfen + nieht or kein:

Sie durfen nieht hineingehen. You should not go in.

Ich darf kein FeU essen. I should not eat any fat.

5. Solles:

This is a rather strange verb. It is tempting to translate it by 'shall', but there's more to it than that. Look at these examples:

Ich soli morgen urn 10 Uhr am Flughafen sein,

Es soli in Sudfrankreich sehr warmsein.

Um wieviel UbI' soli ich kommen?

Soli ich Ihnen einen Tee maehen?

1 am to bel am supposed to bel am expected to be at the airport at 10 o'clock tomorrow.

It's supposed to bel They say it's very warm in the South of France.

When shall II am 1 tol would you like me to come?

Shall II would you like me to make you a cup of tea?

In other words, you can sometimes use 'shall' to translate sollen but you must be clear that underlying sollen is often the idea that a third person has to give his consent or that the information is dependent on a third person. There is often an idea of duty or obligation to someone other than the speaker.

Similarly in the imperfect tense, sollte/sollten can mean 'should', but also means 'ought to, was expected to, was supposed to'.

LEARN BY HEART

You have been invited out to dinner with friends. Choose the correct verb to give you some useful expressions.

1. Sollte/Konnte ich bitte das Salz

haben?

2. KannlMochte ieh Ihnen helfen?

3. MuB/Darfich rauchen?

4. Moehte/Konnte ieh ein Glas Wassu bekommen?

Could I have the salt, please? Can 1 help you?

May 1 smoke?

Could I have a glass of water?

r


5. Ich muMdarfkeine Milchprodukte I'm not allowed to

essen. eat any dairy products.

6. Ieh mull/darf leider jetzt gehen. I'm afraid I'll have to

7. Konnten/Sollten Sie mir bltte sagen, wo die Toilette ist?

go now.

Could you please tell me where the rest room is?

MODAL VERBS IN THE PAST

Although there is a perfect tense for modal verbs, it is much more common to use them in the imperfect. To form the imperfect, take -en from the infinitive and add -te or -ten. There is often a change of stem too. People often get confused using the imperfect of modal verbs because they use umlauts incorrectly. In the imperfect tense of modal verbs there are no umlauts.

wollen ich wollte/Sie wollten wanted to
mussen ich muBle/Sie mull ten had to
konnen ich konnte/Sie konnten was/were able to
sollen ich sollte/Sie soli ten ought to/should/was
expected to
diirfen ich durfte/Sie durften was/were allowed to The word order is the same as for the present tense.

leh multte gehcn.

Wir konnten nicht sehen. Er sollte jetzt da scin.

I had to go.

We couldn't see.

He ought to be there by now.

Perfect tense

Use ich habe etc. as for any perfect tense, but instead of using a past participle the modal verb stays in the infinitive form and comes after the other verb at the very end of the sentence.

Present tense: Das kann ieh machen. I can do it.

Perfect tense: Das habeich machen konnen. I was able to do it. That's when the real fun starts, piling up all the verbs at the end of the sentence!

ANSWERS

1. Konnte; 2. Kann; 3. Darf; 4. Konnte; 5. darf; 6. rnub; 7. Konnten.

Verbs Modal verbs/39

Note:

Ich wollte = I wanted to Ich miiehte = I would like to
leh konnte = I was able to leh konnte = I could
Imperfect (no Umlaut) Subjunctive (Umlaut) Reflexive verbs

INTRODUCTION

Reflexive verbs are verbs which seem to 'come back on themselves'. They are used to describe actions or feelings which are important to the speaker personally. The nearest thing we have in English is the use of 'myself, 'yourself' etc. with a verb:

I addressed myself to the problem. Can you let yourself in?

Make yourself at home, etc.

I addressed myself

The circular movement revolving around the verb emphasizes the personal nature of the verb.

HOW TO USE

In order to use reflexive verbs in German you use the verb in the usual way, taking into consideration tense, type of verb etc., but in addition rou add ~n extra reflexive pronoun which is the equivalent of 'myself, yourself etc. The reflexive pronoun usually goes in the 3rd position in the sentence, sticking very close to the verb. The German reflexive pronouns are:

Ich-« mich du-> dieh er/sie/es --> sich

wir --> uns ihr-> euch sie/Sie -> sich

~ow can y?u tell that a verb is reflexive? In the infinitive you see: sich irren or s. rrren.


1. Present tense

ich irre mich I am mistaken

du irrst dich you are mistaken

er irrt sich he is mistaken

sie irrt sich she is mistaken

wir irren uns ihr irrt euch sie irren sich Sie irren sich

we are mistaken you are mistaken they are mistaken you are mistaken

I'

I:

II

I' II

Question

Irren Sic sich? Are you mistaken?

2. Imperfect tense

The word order is exactly the same as for the present tense. The reflexive pronouns are exactly the same. The verb takes imperfect tense endings and stem changes.

3. Perfect tense

1 2 3 4 5
I personal haben/sein reflexive rest of past
pronoun pronoun sente nce participle
Ich habe mich geirrt.
Er hat sich nieht geirrt.
1 Question
! Haben I Sie I sich I I geirrt?

Here are some common reflexive verbs:
sich aus/ruhen to have a good rest sich setze n to sit down
sich argern to get angry sich beeil en to hurry up
sich erinnern to remember sich wase hen to wash oneself HOW TO USE

In the examples so far, the reflexive pronoun has been accusative (see p.85): mich, sich etc.

There is a second type of reflexive verb with which the reflexive pronoun is dative (see p.89): mir, dir, sich etc. Look at these examples:

Ich habe mirdie Zahne geputzt. I brushed my teeth.

Ich kann mir im Moment kein Auto leisten.

Er wollte sich die Nachrichten ansehen.

Verbs Reflexive verbs!41

1 can't afford a car at the moment.

He wanted to have a look at the news.

In all these examples the reflexive pronoun means either: 'your', 'my' etc.; as in 'I brushed my teeth' (i.e. to myself); or 'tolfor myself, yourself' etc., as in 'to have a look (for himself) at the news'.

The dative pronouns for reflexive verbs are:

mil' uns

dlr euch

sich sich

so the only difference occurs with the mir and dir forms. All the rest are the same as for the accusative. Still, the difference is important because it involves a different idea of relationships.

Some common verbs of this type are:

slch etwas leisten to afford something

sich etwas ansehen/anschauen to have a look at something

sich etwas .kaufen to buy oneself something

sich etwas iiberlegen to think something over

sich die Haare waschen to wash one's hair

LEARN BY HEART

Here are some sentences which are useful for personal conversations. Choose the correct reflexive pronoun to insert in each blank.

1. Ich habe ... geirrt. I've made a mistake.

2. Es tut mir leid, ich kann ... nicht I'm sorry, I can't remember.

erinnern.

3. Er hat ... so geargert!

4. Guten Tag, ich miichte ...

anmelden.

5. leh mull ... die Haare waschen.

6. Interessieren Sic ... fur Musik?

7. Wir freuen ... auf Ihren Besuch.

8. Bitte setzen Sie ...

9. Das muf kit ... noch uberlegen.

He was so angry!

Good morning, I'd like to

register.

I'll have to wash my hair.

Are you interested in music? We look forward to your visit. Please sit down.

I'll have to think it over.

ANSWERS

1. mich; 2. mich; 3. sich; 4. mich; 5. mir; 6. sich; 7. uns; 8. sich; 9. mir.


Imperative

INTRODUCTION

There are several forms for giving commands, depending on how friendly, polite etc. your relations are with the other person.

HOW TO USE

The straightforward imperative form (i.e. command form) in German IS the same as the present tense but the verb goes into the 1st position:

J 2

GehenSie!

2 3

Kommen Sie hierher.

I 2 3

Trinken Sie Ihren Kaffee aus.

Go!

Come here!

Drink your coffee!

But you won't get very far if you order people around like that. In order not to offend people you often have to cushion your command:

1. With words like bftte. Gehen Sie bitte dureh. Kommen Sie bitte ins Vorder-

zimmer.

Horen Sie bitte. Gueken Sie mal.

Please go straight through. Please come into the front room.

Please listen. Have a look here.

2. Or you could be even Jess abrasive and use modal verbs (see p.34):

Konnten Sie bitte leiser spreehen? Could you please speak more

softly?

Your command is phrased as a polite request, the other person is made to feel he is doing you a favor.

Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? Shall wei let's go to the movies?

3. The infinitive (see p.168) is used especially for instructions on packages and labels as well as public signs and loudspeaker announcements:

Hier offnen

Hier sehneiden

Bitte weitergehen Bitte sofort einsteigen Turen schliellen

Open here Cut here

Move along, please

Please get into (vehicle) at once Close the doors

Verbs Imperative/s.i

Here are a few more - can you guess what they mean?

1. Nicht storen! 4. Karten hier entwerten!

2. Geld einwerfen! 5. Zimmersehliissel abgeben!

3. Bitte zurucktretenl 6. Rauchen einstellen!

Sein

The imperative form of sein is: Seien Sie. You can use it if you want to bend over backwards not to offend someone when asking him or her to do something:

Seien Sie bitte so nett. Would you be so kind?

Negative commands

To the foreigner the most important commands often take the form of regulations or signs telling you something is forbidden. The vocabulary is also often difficult to figure out. Here are a few examples:

Kein Zutritt No entry, no access

Kein Durchgang No way through

Kein Trinkwasser Not drinking water

Keine Durchfahrt No through road

D n/ ist untersagt ) . .

as Rauche Das ist nicht gestattet Smoking/Playing ~)ll

Spielen auf dem ist verboten the grass/Washing

RasenlDas r car

ist streng verboten you . IS,

Autowaschen etc. istnichterlaubt forbidden.

Sle durfen hier nieht parken/zelten/You're not allowed to parklcampl

kochen/waschen/ etc. cook/wash here.

ANSWERS

1. Do not disturb. 2. Insert money. 3. Please step back. 4. Stamp tickets here. 5. Hand in your room key. 6. Put out your cigarette.


LEARN BY HEART

Here are a few imperatives which you might find useful in social situations:

Try to fill in the correct form of the verb. Choose four of the six verbs below.

1. . .... Sic bitte herein.

Please come in.

2. . .... Sie bitte Platz.

Do sit down.

3. Entschnldigen Sie, das Rauchen ist hier nieht .....

Excuse me, you're not allowed to smoke here.

4. . .... wir heute abend in die Stadt Shall we go into town tonight? fahren?

nehmen gestattet verboten. kommen wollen ktinnten

Subjunctive

INTRODUCTION

This grammar is not really the place to go into all the details of the German subjunctive, but many of you have heard ofthe term and may be a bit confused about it. I have tried to reduce the subjunctive to what is really useful for everyday use.

ANSWERS

1. Kornmen. 2. Nehmen. 3. gestattet. 4. Wollen.

Verbs Subjunctive/45

EXPLANATION

Up until now in this book, we have been looking at verbs in very concrete, real settings. The subjunctive is a form of the verb which introduces a certain distance from reality, sometimes an element of doubt or wishful thinking. It is used for example:

1. When reporting what someone else has said.

Er sagte, sie warezum Flughafen He said she'd gone to the airport.

gefahren.

Because you are relying on what he said, you can't be absolutely sure that she really did go to the airport. So 'had gone' is SUbjunctive: ware gefahren.

2. When translating the English 'if'.

Confusingly, the German word for 'if' is wenn. The word 'if introduces an element of unreality or wishful thinking into the sentence:

Wenn ich ein reieher Mann ware ... If I were a rich man ...

But I'm not and probably never will be. The English word 'were' in this sentence is a leftover form of the old English SUbjunctive and expresses the uncertainty caused by 'if'.

3. When translating the English 'would/could'.

a) Making polite requests:

Konnten Sie mir bitte ... zeigen? Wiirden Sie bitte so nett sein ... ? Wiirden Sie bitte die Tiir

zumachen?

Could you please show me ?

Would you be so kind as to ?

Would you please close the door?

b) Reacting very politely to other people:

Das ware nett. That would be nice.

c) Making suggestions:

Wir konnten nach Mexiko fahren. We could go to Mexico. An Ihrer Stelle wiirde ich ... If I were you I would ...

d) Expressing wishes:

Ich wiirde gern mal nach A ustraIien fahren.

I'd love to go to Australia.

46/Nice'n Easy German Grammar

4. Some everyday expressions which make conversation and dealings in banks, stores etc. pleasant and civilized.

Kiinnten Sie das bitte einpacken? Could you wrap it up, please? Konnte ich das bitte anprobieren? Could I try this on, please?

Das miiBte reichenl gehen. That ought to be enough! be OK.

Das ware nett. That would be finel nice.

Danke, das wiirees. Thank you, that's all for now.

Ich hattegern + noun I'd like ...

Ich wiirdegern + infinitive I'd like to ...

HOW TO USE

Infinitive Subjunctive
haben ich/erlsie/es hatte wir/sie/Sie hatten
sein ware waren
konnen konnte konnten Please note the umlaut throughout. In fact in these examples above, the subjunctive form is exactly the same as the imperfect tense except for the umlaut. To translate 'would', you generally use wiirde/wiirden + infinitive.

Ich wiirdemeine Stelle kiindigen. I'd hand in my resignation. Er wiirde nach Amerika fahren. He'd go to America.

WiirdenSie so freundlieh sein? Would you be so kind?

Putting it all together

Here are a few examples of the subjunctive which you might find useful:

1. In conversation:

Wenn ieh die Zeit hatte, wiirde ich gem mehr Deutsch lernen.

Wenn ieh die Wahl htute, wiirde ich zu Hause bleiben,

Wenn ich so jung ware, wiirde ich eine Weltreise smternehmen.

If I had the time, I would love to learn more German.

If I had the choice, T would stay at home.

If I were as young as that, I'd go on a trip around the world.

Verbs Subjunctive/47

2. In business letters:

Ich ware Ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn Sie mir Ihre Broschure zuschicken kimnten.

I would be very grateful if you could send me your brochure.

There is more to the subjunctive than this, and if you are interested in taking it further, it is better to consult a more specialized grammar book.

Passive

INTRODUCTION

You use the passive when you don't want to be specific about who was/is performing the action.

EXPLANATION

If I say: 'John kicked the ball over the fence', I am being quite specific about who performed the action. But if [say: 'The ball was kicked over the fence', I leave the identity of the kicker open. The form 'was kicked' is passive. So the passive is really a different way of describing the same event. The emphasis is on the action itself and is deflected away from the person performing the action.

This can often be very useful if you want to highlight the action or keep the identity of the doer vague. The Germans are very fond of using the passive and you will hear and see it a Jot more than in English. You do not have to learn it yourself, because there is a simpler alternative using man (one, people in general), see p.102. However, it is certainly useful to be able to recognize the passive.


HOW TO USE

1. Present tense

Use the present tense of werden (p.2S) which goes to the usual verb position (see p.51) + the past participle (p.19) of the main verb which goes to the end of the sentence. The rest of the sentence is sandwiched in the middle.

1 2 3 4
Ieh werde ge--(e)t. weak
Erlsie/es wird rest of sentence
Wirlsie/Sie werden ge--(?)--en. strong Sie werden erwsrtet. You're expected.rrhey're

expecting you. (They' not specified. )

Nein danke, ich werde abgeholt. No thanks, I'm getting a ride.ll'm being met. (You don't want to be specific about who is meeting you.)

Das Haus wirdgerade gebaut. The house is (in the process of)

being built.

2. Imperfect tense

Use the imperfect tense of werden (wurde/wurden) + the past participle:

Ich/er/sie/es wurde* rest of sentence ge--(e)t. weak
Wir/sic/Sie wurden* ge--(?)--en. strong "N.B. no Umlaut!

Er wurde gestern operiert. Wir wurden vom Bahnhof abgeholt.

Die Kirche wurdeim 16. .Iahrhundert gebsut,

He was operated on yesterday. We were picked up from the station.

The church was built in the 16th century.

L

Verbs Passive/49

There are two important points which often confuse people:

1. Werden does not have an umlaut in the passive. Many people think it does because they confuse wurde/wurden with wiirde/wiirden (=would), see p.46.

2. Many people ask: what's the difference between Das Geschaft ist geschlossen and

Das Geschaft wirdgeschlossen?

You can say both, but they mean different things. If you use sein with a past participle, you are describing a state of affairs. The shop is closed. It's a description of the shop, just as you could say the shop is big or small or expensive. The word geschlossen is being used here just as any other adjective. If you use werden with the past participle, you are describing the act of closing the shop. Das Geschatt wird gesehlossen means that the shop is being closed. In your mind's eye you can see the action taking place.

Ihr Wagen ist repariert.

Your car is repaired, i.e. it is OK now, it is in a repaired state.

Your car is being repaired, i.e. the repairing is going on now.

Ihr Wagen wird reparlert.

This problem is difficult for English speakers because we use 'to be' to form our own passive.

3. Perfect tense

This looks quite complicated, but you can survive without learning it. Use the present tense of sein (to be) + past participle of main verb + worden.

1 2 3 4 5
Ieh bin ge--(e}t
Er/sie/es ist rest of sentence ge--(?)--en worden.
Wir/sie/Sie sind 50/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

1 2 3 4 5
Ihr Auto ist gestern repariert worden. Your car was
repaired
yesterday.
MeinBruder Ist in der Klinik operiert worden. My brother
was operated
on in the
clinic.
Meine
Handtasche ist gestohlen worden. My purse
has been
stolen. In most cases you can use the imperfect just as well as the perfect for actions in the past.

EXPLANATION

A word of warning: many people confuse worden (which is used only in the perfect tense of the passive) with geworden (which is no! used in the passive). Geworden is the past participle of werden (to become).

Sentence structure/51

Sentence structure

INTRODUCTION

If you can master German word order and sentence structure you will sound much more German than someone who gets all the endings right but still sticks to English word order. German is a very logical language and the rules about word order are very straightforward. They may seem a lot to take in at one time, but persevere and you will astonis.h yourself! Train your ear to listen to how German people str~cture their sentences and try to copy them. Train yourself to predict what IS coming at the end of the sentence. This will help you to think ahead and will stop you from being preoccupied with English word order ~ which won't be of much help to you.

EXPLANATION

I am going to distinguish between two types of sentences: simple sentences and complex sentences.

I. Simple sentences . .

In simple sentences (i.e. sentences containing only one verb) which a~e statements (i.e. not questions or commands) the most Important rule IS that the main verb always stands in the 2nd position. This does not mean that it is the 2nd word in the sentence because the 1st position may be occupied by a phrase consisting of several words.

I 3

Die Tor ist auf.

The door is open.

Die Tor is a unit forming in this example the subject of the verb. The verb ist is in 2nd position, i.e. the 2nd unit in the sentence. Here are some more examples:

2

Wir Iliegen

3

morgen nach Hause. We're flying home tomorrow.

uns nachste Woche. My aunt is visiting us next

week.

In these examples the first unit is the subject (i.e. performs the action), the second unit is the verb and the rest of the sentence (expressions of time or place etc.) comes afterwards.

Meine Tante besucht

52,/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

This is the usual sentence structure which we have in English. We nearly always begin a sentence with the subject, followed by the verb, followed by the object. Most other phrases get attached to the end of this core sentence, and expressions of time may go before or after the subject-verb-object core.

YesterdaylI went to see my friend in Cleveland.1

I went to see my friend in Cleveland yesterday.

German sentence structure is much more flexible. You can begin a sentence with almost anything you like: the subject, the object, an expression of time or place, the dative and many other expressions. Take a sentence like:

Ich fahre nachste Woche mit meiner Tante nach Amerika.

I'm going to America next week with my aunt.

You can say:

1 2 3 4 5
Ich tahre nachste Woche mit meiner Tante nach Arnerika.
Nachste Woche fahre ich mit meiner Tante nach Amerika.
Nach Amerika fahre ich nachste Woche mit meiner Tante,
Mit meincr Tante fahre ich nachste Woche nach Amerika. Another example:

genommen. genommen.

N.B. the main verb is always in the 2nd position.

How can you start a sentence with virtually any type of word and still avoid total confusion? How can you tell who performed the action and who was on the receiving end of it? The answer lies:

1. With the verb. The second position is an anchor point around which the rest of the sentence floats. The verb ending can already tell you a lot about who performed the action.


2. With the well-defined system of endings for words which accompany nouns (der/die/das, ein/kein/mein etc. see pp.94, 97). This is where the time and trouble spent in learning the nominative, accusative etc. endings is repaid in full, because it enables you to tell whether the car took the man or the man took the car.

Mein Auto hat der Mann genommen.

It's tempting to assume that Mein Auto is the subject, but look at der Mann. Der words only take der in the nominative, so der Mann must be the subject. Of course, common sense tells you that it must be that way, but you'd be surprised how often people get it wrong.

Although I said earlier that the rest of the sentence seems to float around the verb in the 2nd position, the parts which float do not just appear in any position whatsoever. Within the floating structure there are strict rules of word order:

L Expressions of time (= when) must come before expressions of manner (=how), which must come before expressions of place (=where).

2. Pronouns must come before nouns.

3. If there are two nouns together, the nominative must come before the dative, which must come before the accusative.

4. If there are two pronouns together, the nominative must come before the accusative, which must come before the dative.

German sentence structure:

1 2 3
Nominative verb rest of sentence.
Accusative Rules: 1) time 2) manner 3) place
Dative 1) pronouns 2) nouns
Time two nouns: 1) Nom 2) Dat 3) Ace
Manner two pronouns: 1) Nom 2) Ace
Place 3) Dat
etc. Here are some examples of simple statements with other tenses and verb constructions:


L Perfect tense

1 2 3 4
haben/sein rest of sentence past participle
MeinOnkei ist neulich gestorben.
In dem Lokal haben wir Steaks gegessen. 2., Modal verbs I werden (future tense) I wiirde/wiirden (=would)

1 2 3 4
modal! rest of infinitive of
werden sentence 2nd verb
Ich mochte meine anrufen.
Schwester
Nachste werde ich meinen feiern.
Woche Geburtstag
Das wiirde ich so gem machen, }, Passive

a) Present and imperfect tenses

1 2 3 4
werden rest of past participle
sentence of 2nd verb
Nachdem wurde Deutschland geteilt.
Krieg
DieWohnung wird einmal in der geputzt.
Woche b) Perfect tense

1 2 3 4 5
Meine Schuhe sind schon geputzt worden.
Wir sind urn sieben Uhr geweekt worden. Sentence structure/55

4. Separable verbs

a) Present and imperfect tenses

1 2 3 4
Er bat mir sein Auto an.
Ich kaufe immer bei Horten ein.
(= name of store) b) Perfect and pluperfect tenses

1 2 3 4
Sein Auto hat ermir angeboten,
Er war schon wegegangen. 5, Simple questions and commands

To form simple questions or commands, you put the verb in the 1st position and the subject usually (but not always') goes in the 2nd position,

1 2 3
Fahren Sie bitte etwas iangsamer!
Geben Sie mir bltte den Schliissel!
Fahren Sie immer so schnell?
Haben Sie gut geschlafen?
*Uat Ihnen das Essen geschmeckt?
1st das Haus schon geputzt worden?
Moehten Sie in den Garten gehen?
Haben Sie viele Leute kennengelernt? Questions using question words (when? where? etc.)

1 2 3 4
question verb subject rest of sentence
word • (usually) 56/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

There is no room left for maneuvering in the 1st position because it is occupied by the question word, so the subject or other word from the 1st position is shunted further down.

1 2 3 4
Wielange haben Sie Deutsch studiert?
Wann sind Sie nach Deutschland gekommen?
Wie hat Ihnen das Essen geschmeckt? 'The questions marked with an asterisk are examples of the subject (das Essen) not occupying its expected position. The reason for this is the rule on page 53 which says that pronouns (Ihnen) must come before nouns (das Essen) when both follow the verb.

2. Complex sentences

In a complex sentence (i.e. a sentence with more than one main verb), each section of the sentence focuses on a particular verb. We call these sections clauses. In the following examples the beginning and end of a clause is shown by a slash mark (/) and the verb on which it focuses is written in italics.

/He told mel that he would phone at eight o'clock/. II am not sure/ whether it is going to rain today/.

IHe kissed her goodbye,! then walked away quickly/ and was lost in the crowd/.

In German the beginnings and endings of clauses are always clearly marked by commas. The commas must be there and are part of the grammatical structure of the sentence. There are several types of complex sentences because there are several sets of rules about word order, depending on the construction used.

L Verb stays in the usual position (2nd for statements, 1st for questions/commands) .

a) After und (and), aber (but), oder (or), sondern ('but' after negative statement), denn (because).

I 2

Bleiben Sie hler, oder kommen Sie lieber mit?

Are you staying here or do you want to come along too?


Wir kiinnen entweder bei uns zu Hause essen, oder wir konnen zu den ltalienern gehen.

We can either eat at home or go out to the Italian restaurant.

I 2

Wir waren heute am Strand, aber es war eigentlich zu kalt zum Schwimmen.

We went to the beach today but it was really too cold to swim.

N.B. und, aber etc. are connecting words between clauses. They do not occupy a word-order position in the clause that follows.

Er kommt nicht? Das kann ich schon verstehen, denn er wohnt sehr weit von hier,

He's not coming? I can well understand that because he lives a long wa y away from here.

b) In the shortened form of indirect speech and expression of opinions. (N.B. no word for 'that'.)

Ich finde,

das ist sehr nett von ihm.I think it's very nice of him.

lch meine, er

ist schon weg. kommt nicht,

I imagine he's already gone. I think he's not coming.

Ich glaube, er

2. Verb stays in the 2nd position, but there is no room in the 1st position because it is occupied already by words like dann (then) and also (50). This forces all other parts of the sentence to go after the verb. The subject therefore normally occupies the 3rd position.

I 2 3 1 2

Wir sind zu Karstadt gegangen, dann waren wir bei Hertic, dann sind 3

wir in die Konditorei gegangen. Dort haben wir eln Stuck Kuchen

I 2 3 1 2

gegessen, dann wollten wir ins Kino gehen. Das Kino war zu, also sind 3

wir nach Hause gefahren, Ich hatte meinen Schlussel vergessen, also

2 3

muflten wir draullen warten.


We went to Karstadt", then we were in Hertie", then we went to the pastry shop. We had a piece of cake there, then we wanted to go to the movies. The theater was closed, so we went home. I had forgotten my keys, so we had to wait outside.

You can either start a completely new sentence with dannlalso or you can add a comma at the end of the previous clause and continue in the same sentence.

3. The verb is moved from its 2nd position to the very end of the clause.

This word order occurs:

a) After daB (that), weil (because), obwohl (although), damit (so that), wenn (if) etc. They are all words which introduce clauses that can not stand on their own - these are known as subordinate clauses.

N .B. this overrides any other word order rules which affect the sentence.

I I

2

3

4

verb

I

Modal verbs move from the 2nd position to come after the 2nd verb infinitive.

I I

2

3

5

modal verb

I

t

For separable verbs: the stem moves from the 2nd position and joins up with the prefix at the end of the sentence:

I I

2

3

4

stem

I

prefix+stern.

t

In the perfect tense, habenlsein move from the 2nd position to come after the past participle:

1 2 3 4 5
haben/sein past participle
I ,- 'Department stores in Germany.

Notice the comma which comes before da6/weillwenn etc. This is an essential point of German grammar indicating the end of one clause and the beginning of the next. It is not a piece of decoration to be put III or left out at will.


Wir freuen uns, daB Sie gekommen sind.

Uns hat keiner gesagt, daB das Autowaschen hier verboten ist.

Ich bin etwas sparer gekommen, weil ieh mich zuerst anmelden muBte.

Ich mochte nicht, daB Sie zuviel I don't want you to spend too much

Geld ausgeben. money.

Wir haben ibn nicht gesehen, weil We didn't see him because he was

er urn die Ecke gewartet hat. waiting around the corner.

Er kommt heute nicht mit, weil He's not coming with us today

sein Geld aile ist, because he's run out of money.

We are pleased that you came.

Nobody told us that you're not allowed to wash your car here.

I arrived a bit late because I had to register first.

b) In relative clauses (with 'whov'which'z'that') .

Wo ist das Bueh, das Sie in der Where's the book (which) you had

Hand hatten? in your hand?

Das war der langste Film, denieh That was the longest film (which)

j e gesehen hebe, I've ever seen.

leh habe gestern mit dem Mann I spoke yesterday to the man who

gesprochen, derunser Auto repaired our car.

repariert hat.

e) In indirect questions (e.g. 'J don't know where he is'.The direct question is: 'Where is he?' The indirect question IS contained within the sentence and is introduced by a question word).

Konnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wo Could you please tell me where the

die Toiletten simi! rest rooms are?

Wissen Sie zufallig, wann dieser Do you happen to know when this

Zug in Basel ankommt? train arrives in Basel? .

Ich habe keine Ahnung, werdie I've no idea who played the lead III

Hauptrolle im Film gespielt the film.

hat.

leh wei6 nieht, obdas stimmt. I don't know if that's right.

6O/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

d) After als ('when' in the past), nachdem (after), wenn ('when' in the present and future), bevor (before), seit (since), wahrend (while), his (until). These are all expressions of time. They follow the same word order pattern as a), b) and c) but the time clause can come either at the beginning of the sentence or later on in the sentence. Notice what happens to the word order in the other clause:

Time clause at beginning of sentence

Other clause: verb in lst position

1 2

Ais wir wegfahren wollten, hat es gegossen.

Just as we were about to depart, it poured down.

1 2

Bevor Sie sich entscheiden, sollten Sie unbedingt die

Broschiire lesen,

Before you make up your mind, you ought to read the brochure.

Other clause first: normal word order

Time clause follows

Ich habe viel getesen, I read a lot

Wir haben schnell ein Bier getrunken,

We had a quick beer

als ieh zwanzig war. when I was twenty.

bevor wir zum Bahnhof gegangen sind.

before we went to the train station.

Sentence structure/6l Now look at each of the above examples in a), b), c) and d) very carefully and note down: 1. what type of verb it contains and 2. what tense the verb is in. Check again with the explanation at the beginning of each section and see if you can figure out why the word order is the way it is.

4. The verb in one clause is in the infinitive form. a) After urn ... zu (in order to)

The infinitive goes at the end of its clause. Separable verbs insert -zubetween the prefix and the main stem:

First clause

Second clause

urn

rest of clause zu infinitive

Wir sind etwas fruher gekommen,

Ich brauche etwas,

Ihnen zu helfen.

urn urn

die Dose

aufzumachen,

b) After certain verbs which are followed by zu, e.g. vergessen (to forget), versuchen (to try), auf/horen (to stop), an/fangen (to start), ernpfehlen (to recommend) etc.

Ich habe vergessen, ihn zu fragen. I forgot to ask him.

Er hat mil' empfohlen, den He recommended I take the

Intercity-Zug zu nehmen. Intercity train.

LEARN BY HEART

In the sentences below the verbs have been taken out of position. Rewrite the German sentences with the verbs in the correct position. The verbs are underneath the sentence, and they are in the wrong order.

1. lch Sie nlcht, weil es zu spat. angerufen, war, habe

2. leh, wo wir ihn, kennengelernt, habe, haben, vergessen

3. Sie Lust, jetzt in die Stadt zu? haben, fahren

4. Ieh nicht, ob die anderen schon zu Hause.

sind, weiR

Do you feel like going into town now?

I don't know whether the others me already home.

I didn't phone you because it was too late.

I've forgotten where we met him.


5. Ich mein Studium, weil ich kein Geld.

aufgeben, harte, mu6te

6. Ich mit meinem Bruder ins Krankenhaus, dann wir mindestens eine Stunde. gewartet, bin, haben, gegangen

I had to give up my studies because I had no money.

I went with my brother to the hospital and then we waited for at least an hour.

ANSWERS

1. Ich habe Sie nicht angerufen, weil es zu spat war. 2. leh habe vergessen, wo wir ihn kennengelernt haben. 3. Haben Sie Lust, jetzt in die Stadt zufahren? 4. leh weili nicht, ob die anderen schon zu Hause sind. 5. leh mufJte mem Studium aufgeben, wei! ich kein Geld hatte. 6. leh bin mit meinern Bruder ins Krankenhaus gegangen, dann haben wir mindestens eine Stunde gewartet.

Questions/63

Questions

INTRODUCTION

You will find yourself having to answer many questions in Germany and you will want to ask many questions yourself. Questions in German are quite straightforward. There are several types:

HOW TO USE

1. Simple questions expecting a 'yes/no' answer.

To form this type of question you simply reverse the word order of a normal statement so that the verb stands in the first position and the subject of the verb goes into the second position.

Statement

Er hat lange gewartet. Er wohnt in Paris.

Sie kommen aus

Berlin.

Question

Hat er lange gewartet? Wohnt er in Paris? Kommen Sie aus

Berlin?

Did he wait long? Does he live in Paris? Do you come from

Berlin?

Notice that there is no German word for 'do/does/did' - it is absorbed into the verb.

Of course not all statements begin with the subject of the sentence. You might have a statement like:

Gestern hat er seine Mutter He visited his mother yesterd a y.

besucht.

To make this into a question, the verb has to go in the first position, the subject goes into the second position, so gestern is moved further down the quest jon:

I 2 I

Hat er gestern seine Mutter besucht? or Hat er seine Mntter gestern besucht?


2. Use ofnicht wahr? (isn't it/aren't you? etc.)

If you are expecting the answer 'yes', you can save yourself the trouble of forming a question. Instead you express a normal statement, then tack on nieht wahr? at the end. The result is a question you expect the other person to agree with. Nicht wahr? means 'isn't that so?'.

The food's good, isn't it?

Das Essen schmeckt gut, nieht wahr?

Sie sind Fraulein Schmidt, nieht wahr?

Sic wohnen in Kiel, nieht wahr? Der Bus fiihrt urn acht Uhr, nicht wahr?

You're Fraulein Schmidt, aren't you?

You live in KieJ, don't you?

The bus leaves at 8 o'clock, doesn't it?

3. Use of question words (who? when? where? etc.) The word order when using question words is:

1 2 3 4
question word verb subject rest of question
(usually)
Was haben Sie heute gernaeht?
Wann wollen wir essen? Sometimes the subject can not come in the third position because there is another rule of word order which says that in the part of the sentence which comes after the verb, pronouns must come before nouns (see p.53). So, ifthe subject is a noun and there is another pronoun after the verb, the subject gets moved further down the line:

1 2 3 4
Wie hat Ihnen das Essen geschmeckt?
(pronoun) (subject) The most common question words are:

Wann? = when?

Wann fahren wir?

When are we leaving?

Questions/65

Wieviel? = how much/how many?

Wieviel Zigaretten haben Sie How many cigarettes do you have

noch? left?

Wo? = where?

Wo sind hier die Toiletten?

Wohin? = where to? Wohin fahren Sie?

Woher? = where from? Woher kommen Sie?

Where are the nearest rest rooms?

Where are you going (to)?

Where do you come from?

Wer? = who?

Wer? changes its ending depending on whether it is nominative, accusative, dative or genitive. It takes the same endings as der (see p.94).

Nom. Ace, Dat. Gen.

wer? wen? wem? wessen?

Wer istjetztan der Reihe? Fur wen ist der Brief? Wem gehort der Koffer?

who? whom?

(to/with etc.) whom? whose?

Who is next?

Who is the letter for? (for whom?) Who does the case belong to? (to

whom?)

Note:

1. Many English people confuse wer? (=who) and wo? (=where). Try to get this clear in your own mind- it is theotherway around from what you might expect.

2. Make sure you pronounce wen? (=whom?) with a long e (sounds like English 'vein') and wenn? (=when?) with a short e (sounds like the 'e' in English 'when'). Otherwise nobody will understand you.

Wie? = how?

Wie geht es Ihnen?

Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch? Wie aIt sind Ihre Kinder?

How are you?

How do you say that in German? How old are your children?


Welcher/welche/welches? = which?

Welcher is an adjective (see p,112 Situation type 4).

Welches Zimmer haben Sie? Which room do you have?

In welchem Zimmer sind Sie? Which room are you in?

Welche Grone nehmen Sie? Which size do you take?

Warum? = why?

Warum haben Sie das gemacht? Why did you do it?

B. Questions you might want to ask:

Was kostet das Zimmer? How much is the room?

Kann lch hier telefonieren? Can I make a phone call here?

Sprechen Sie Englisch? Do you speak English?

Wo ist hier eine Bank? Where is there a bank around

here?

Wann fahrt der Zug nach Basel? When does the train for Basel

leave?

What is your name?

Could you please help me? How do you say 'spaniel' in

German?

What's this?

Was? = what? Was istdas? Was kostet das?

PRACTICE/LEARN BY HEART A. Questions you might hear:

Wie ist Ihr Name?

Woher kommen Sie?

Was sind Sie von Beruf? Was kann ich fur Sie tun? Was mochten Sie?

Haben Sie gut geschlafen?

Hat Ihnen das Essen geschmeckt?

Wie heillen Sie?

Konnten Sie mir bitte helfen? Wie sagt man 'spaniel' auf

Deutsch?

Was ist das?

What's this?

How much is this? (What does it cost?)

What is your name?

Where do you come from? What do you do for a living? What can I do for you? What would you like?

Did you sleep well?

Did you enjoy your meal?

HOW TO USE

You can also form question words with prepositions. You add wo- to the beginning of the preposition. If the preposition begins with a vowel, you add wor-.

Woruber sprechen Sic? WofUr ist das?

Wovon hangt das Ergebnis ab?

Was fur? = what kind of? Was fUr eine Stadt ist das? Was fur Leute sind das?

Questions/67

What are you talking about? What is this for?

What does the result depend on?

What kind of a town is this? What sort of people are they?

l


Negatives

INTRODUCTION

There is an art to saying no. It can be embarrassing not knowing how to say 'no' in a foreign language.

HOW TO USE l. No

The simple word for 'no' is nein. But it is not always appropriate on its own. If some bod y says to you:

Mochten Sie eine Tasse KalTee? Would you like a cup of coffee?

it would be very rude to decline with Nein, so here are some helpful expressions to soften your refusal.

If somebody offers you something you don't want, say

Nein danke or }

Dankeor No, thank you.

(Nein) Vielen Dank

If they insist and you still want to decline:

Nein danke + give a reason (e.g. Ich mull fahren.rlch habe keinen Hunger etc.)

Nein, wirklich nichtl

Das ist sehr nett von Ihnen, aber + reason

Es tut mir leid, aber + reason

You can express regret by using:

Es tut mir leid. Leider ...

Wir haben leider keine Zimmer frei,

Das Hotel ist leider ausgebucht,

Es tut mir leid, aber ich kann nicht,

No, thank you, I really don't want to.

That's very kind of you, but ...

I'm sorry but ...

I'm sorry. Unfortunately ...

I'm afraid we have no rooms.

I'm afraid the hotel is completely booked.

I'm sorry but I can't.

Negatives/69

It can be awkward trying to refuse an invitation. It's clearly better to give some kind of reason so that the other person doesn't feel offended. On the other hand, you are not obliged to tell them all the details of your private life or the real reason why you want to refuse. The polite but firm way to refuse an invitation is to say:

Nein danke, ich bin schun No, thank you, I'm already

verabredet, committed elsewhere.

or

Es tut mir leid, ich babe schon

I'm sorry but I'm busy then.

etwas vor.

You don't need to go into any more detail.

2. Not + verb. Use nicht.

leh weill es nicht. I don't know.

Ich habe das Haus nicht gefunden, I didn't find the house.

Bitte rauchen Sie nicht, Please don't smoke.

Notice that there is no word for 'don't/didn't'. That is the English way of making the negative and it is unnecessary in German.

Nieht likes to stay close behind the verb in 2nd position, but if there is a subject (nominative), object (accusative) or indirect object (dative) after the verb, nieht is moved further down the sentence. Look at the following examples:

a) Nieht stays close behind the verb in 2nd position:

Ich bin nicht mude, I'm not tired.

Ich habe nieht sehr gut geschlafen, I didn't sleep very well.

b) Nicht is moved further down the sentence:

Er hat mir die Fotos nicht gezeigt. He didn't show me the photos.

Gebt es Ihrem Mann nicht gut? Is your husband not well?

Gefallt Ihnen die Bluse nieht? Don't you like the blouse?

You can also add nicht- as a prefix to nouns, like 'non-' in English. der Nichtraucher non-smoking (car in a train etc.)

_)


3. 'No not ... anyl not ... a' + noun. Use kein. EXPLANATION

Kein is a sort of negative article. An exact equivalent does not exist in English, and English people find it tricky to use. The most important thing is to study the examples carefully and try to learn them by heart. Above all, if you catch yourself saying nicht ein for 'not a' - STOP! It is not German. Nicht ein can not exist in German - it must be replaced by kein.

HOW TO USE

Like the definite article (der/die/das) and the indefinite article (ein/ eine/ein), kein also takes endings which depend on:

1. whether the noun it accompanies is singular or plural;

2. which derfdiefdas group the noun belongs to;

3. what role the noun plays in the sentence (=case).

The endings are exactly the same as the endings forein (see p.97).

der group die group das group plural
Nom. no ending ·e no ending -e
Ace. -en -e no ending ·e
Dat. -em -er -em -en Examples:

Es gibt bier keine Luft.

There's no air in here.lThere isn't any air in here.

We don't have any tomatoes today.!We have no tomatoes today.

I have no idea.

He doesn't speak any German.

I don't have any German money.!I have no German money.

Wir haben heute keine Tomaten,

Ich habe keine Ahnung. Er spricht kein Deutsch.

Ieh habe kein deutsches Geld.

Negatives/71

LEARN BY HEART

Go back over the examples with nicht and kein then decide how to put these sentences into German. Remember, if you find yourself writing nicbt ein or nicht + noun, STOP AND THINK AGAIN!

1. I can't speak German.

2. I'm not hungry.

3. I don't understand.

4. I'm sorry, I don't know.

5. I can't pick you up at the train station.

6. I don't have any time.

7. I'm sorry, that's not possible.

8. Aren't you tired?

9. There's no beer in the refrigerator.

10. Don't you eat any meat?

4. Nobody I not ... anybody = niemand

Icb sehe niemand. I can't see anyone.

Hier ist niemand. There isn't anybody here.

5. Nothing I not ... anything = nichts

English people often have difficulty connecting 'nothing' with 'not. anything'. It's tempting to look up the word 'anything' in the dictionary and add nicbt to it, but that's not German. The way to say 'not ... anything' is nichts. And nichts is a very different word from nicht (='not'+verb).

Ich verstehe nicht, Ich verstehe nichts, Ich weifi nicht,

Ich weiR nichts.

Ich habe noch nichts gegessen, Danke, ich mochte nichts trinken.

I don't understand.

I don't understand anything. I don't know.

I don't know anything.

I haven't had anything to eat yet. No thank you, I don't want

anything to drink.

6. Nowhere I not ... anywhere = nirgends or nirgendwo

Er ist nirgends zu linden. He can't be found anywhere.

Ich babe ibn nirgends gesehen, I haven't seen itfhim anywhere.

ANSWERS

1. Ich spreche kein Deutsch. 2. Ich habe keinen Hunger. 3. Ich verstehe nicht. 4. Es tut mir leid, ich weiB es nicht. 5. Ich kann Sie nicht vom Bahnhof aoholen. 6. Ich habe keine Zeit. 7. Es tut mir leid, das geht nicht. 8. Sind Sie nicht miide? 9. Es gibt kein Bier im Kuhlschrank. 10. Essen Sie kein Fleisch?


7. Never/not ... ever =: me or niemals or noch nie

Ich fahre nie ohne Gtirtel. I never drive without my seat belt

fastened.

I've never drunk tea with milk.

Ich habe nie Tee mit Milch getrunken.

Ich war noeb nie in meinem Leben betrunken.

Wir waren noeb nie in der Schweiz.

I've never been drunk in my life.

We've never been to Switzerland.

8. Not ... yet = noeh nieht + verbl noci: kein + noun

Ich kann mieh noeh nieht I can't make up my mind yet.

entscheiden.

9. Neither ... nor = weder ... nocb

Weder ieh noeh meine Freundin Neither I nor my friend will be able

wird da sein. to come.

L

Conjunctions/73

Conjunctions

INTRODUCTION

'Conjunction' means 'joining together'. Conjunctions are words which join two parts of a sentence together (e.g. 'and', 'but', 'so' etc.). If you say, 'The dress is red and blue', the word 'and' is a conjunction joining the two colors. You can also use conjunctions to join clauses (longer sections of a sentence which contain a verb). You can alter the tone of your sentence by choosing different conjunctions:

Clause 1

( ~~njunclion

but because although when

Clause 2

it was raining.

We went to the beach

HOW TO USE

The most important thing to know about German conjunctions is that when they join two clauses together they often affect word order.

1. Simple conjunctions These do not affect word order:

Und (and), aber (but), oder (or), denn (for, because) etc.

klein aberfein small but fine

mit oderohne Sahne with or without cream

Wir sind in die Wirtschaft We went into the tavern and had a

gegangen und haben ein Bier beer.

getrunken.

Wir haben einen Pickniek gemacht, aberes war sehr kaU.

We had a picnic but it was very cold.

2. Conjunctions that affect word order

a) Inversion of subject and verb. When you use these conjunctions, the subject and the verb exchange positions so that the verb goes into the 1st position and the subject goes into the 2nd position. Also (50- N.B. also never means the English 'also'); dann (then); sonst (otherwise); deshalb (therefore, for that reason) etc.


Ich mufl j etzt gehen, sonst I'll have to go now. Otherwise I'll

komme lch zu spat. be late.

Ich mochte ein Paar Schuhe I'd like to bu y a pair of shoes,

kaufen, deshalb will ich morgen which is why I want to go to town

fruh in die Stadt fahren. early tomorrow morning.

Wir haben Tee getrunken, We had some tea, then we went for

dann sind wir spazieren a walk.

gegangen.

b) The verb is placed at the end of its clause.

Time - .nachdem (after); bevor (before); seitlseitdem (since); als (when); wenn (when); bis (until); wahrend (while) etc.

N.B. use als for 'when' in the past and wenn for 'when' in the present and future.

Reason - da (since); weil (because).

Objection - obwohl (although); trotzdem (in spite ofthat) etc. If- wenn (if); falls (if, in case).

Purpose - damit (so that); so ." dan (so that) dan (that)

ob (whether).

Sie mussen warten, bisder Zug hidt.

Stimmt es wirklich, daR er sehr bank ist?

Wissen Sie, ob Herr Schweik jetzt zuruck ist?

Man mull lange warten, wenn man ein Paket aufgeben will.

Kinder durfen hier nicht schwimmen, well das Wasser sehr tief ist.

You have to wait until the train stops.

Is it really true that he is very ill?

Do you know whether Herr Schweik is back now?

You have to wait a long time if you want to send a package.

Children are not allowed to swim here because the water is very deep.

Notice that there is always a comma before the conjunction if it introduces a new clause. In English, we often don't bother with a comma but in German it must be there to indicate the end of one clause and the beginning of another.

Nouns/75

Nouns

General Information

INTRODUCTION

Nouns in German are always written with a capital letter.

Every noun belongs to one of three groups:

masculine feminine

der die

neuter das

The terms masculine, feminine and neuter are a bit misleading because you find objects such as 'table' (der Tisch) belonging to the der group, and 'bus stop' (die Haltestelle) belonging to the die group. How can you tell which group a noun belongs to? Even Germans don't know every one. In a dictionary you will often see m. (for der group), f. (for die group) or n. (fordas group). But you can't always go around with your nose in a dictionary so here are some rules which will help you.

EXPLANATION

The following nouns are usually in the der group:

- Nouns ending in -er which describe a person's job: der Verkaufer (salesman); der Kellner (waiter) etc.

- Nouns referring to a male person: der Mann (man); der Onkel (uncle); der Vater (father); der Junge (boy); der Polizist (policeman) etc.

The following nouns are usually in the die group:

- Nouns ending in -in, which is the female ending for a person's job: die Studentin (female student); die Verkauferin (saleslady); die Reiseleiterin (female tour guide) etc.

- Nouns referring to a female person: die Mutter (mother); die Frau (woman); die Tante (aunt) etc.


Nouns/77

- Nouns ending in -ung: die Quittung (receipt); die Rechnung (bill); die Zeitung (newspaper); die Abteilung (department); die Heizung (heating); die Bedienung (service); die Ubernachtung (overnight stay); die VerpHegung (board, meals) etc.

- Nouns ending in -heit: die Krankheit (illness) etc.

- Nouns ending in -keit: die StaatsangehOrigkeit (nationality) etc.

- Nouns ending in -e: die Sprache (language); die Speisekarte (menu);

die Steckdose (electric socket); die Stunde (hour) etc. - Nouns ending in -schaft: die Botsehaft (embassy) etc.

- Nouns ending III -tat: die Spezlalitat (specialty); die Elektrlzuat

(electricity) etc.

- Abstract ideas: die Jugend (youth); die Ruhe (peace, tranquility) etc.

- Nouns ending in -bahn: die Autobahn (super highway); die Strallen-

hahn (streetcar) etc.

- Nouns ending in -tion or -sion: die Koalition (coalition); die Situation; die Rezeption; die Konfession (religion) etc.

The following nouns are usually in the das group:

- Foreign words imported, e.g. from English or French: das Restaurant; das Taxi; das Buro (office); das Hotel; das Parfiim etc.

- Nouns ending in -chen: das Madchen (girl); das Brotchen (bread roil); das Wiirstchen (small sausage) etc.

- Nouns ending to -Iein: das Fraulein (girl) etc.

- Latin words: das Studium (period of study), das Museum etc.

Does it matter if you make a mistake with these groups? Yes and no. No, if you only want to get simple messages across. Provided your pronunciation is clear enough people will understand you even if you get the der/die/das wrong. Yes, if you want to speak reasonably correct German. It is important to know which group a noun belongs to because this affects many other grammar items, such as pronouns (p.99) and adjective endings (p.l1O). It also helps to avoid misunderstandings. But remember the golden rule: it's more important to say something even if it's wrong than to say nothing because you can't remember whether it should be der, die or das, Germans will appreciate the effort!

LEARN BY HEART

Whenever you meet a new noun, look it up in the dictionary and write down which group it belongs to. Try to learn the nouns which crop up again and again.

Here are some nouns you will need when looking for accommodations in Germany. Sort them out into three groups (der/die/das) and write the English meaning next to them:

1. Campingplatz. 2. Hotel. 3. Oasthaus. 4. Friihstiick. 5. Jugendherberge. 6. Empfang. 7. Formular. 8. Ubernachtung. 9. Zimmer. 10. Parkplatz.

Now try to learn them by heart.

Here are the names of some well-known German newspapers and magazines. Fill in the der/dle/das and write down the English meaning: 1. Spiegel. 2. Bildzeitung. 3. Welt. 4. Abendblatt. 5. Zeit.

Plural forms

INTRODUCTION

Just as in English we say 'one man' but 'two men' and 'one guitar' but 'two guitars', so in German the plural form of a noun is often different from the singular form. In addition, der/die/das changes to die for all three groups.

EXPLANATION

These are the main types of changes together with the way they are shown in dictionaries:

ANSWERS 1st exercise

1. der (campsite). 2. das (hotel). 3. das (guest house). 4. das (breakfast). 5. die (youth hostel). 6. der (Reception). 7. das (form). 8. die (overnight stay). 9. das (room). 10. der (car park).

2nd exercise

1. der (mirror). 2. die (picture newspaper). 3. die (world). 4. das (evening paper). 5. die (time).


Dictionary

- Add -n or -en or -nen:

Frau ~ Frauen

Frauf. (ven) Freundinf. (-nen)

Freundin ~ Freundinnen

- Change a vowel sound by adding an umlaut (a, 0, 0):

Garten ~ Garten Garten m. (.::)

Apfel ~ Apfel Apfel m. H

- Don't change anything at all:

Kellner ~ Kellner Schlossel ~ Schlussel

Kellnerm. (-) Schliissel m. (-)

- Add -er, usually with an umlaut (a, 0, 0):

Haus ~ Hauser Haus 11. (.:: er)

Glas ~ Glaser Glas /l. (':: er)

- Add -e, often with an umlaut (a, 0, 0):

Fahrplan ~ Fahrplane Tag~ Tage

-Add os:

Fahrplan m. ( .:: e) Tagm. (-e)

Bar=» Bars Ticket ---> Tickets

Bar f. (-s) Ticket /l. (-s)

How do you know how to form the plural of a new noun? Unfortunately there's no easy answer. Most die group nouns form the plural by adding -n or -en. Some das group nouns (foreign words) add -5. Does it really matter? Only up to a point. Try to learn the plural form of new nouns when you look up the der/die/das information and make a special effort to memorize the nouns you keep coming across. It really is a question of memorizing and practice.

SURVIVAL

If you don't know the plural:

1. Stop and consult your phrase book, or

2. Try -en or -er on the end of the noun and see how the other person reacts. If they still don't understand, say the singular, e.g. ein Kind and then say Wie sagt man, zwei was? (How do you say two of them?).

Nouns Plural forms/79 N.B. Certain words which are singular in English are always plural in German:

a headache Kopfschmerzen

a toothache Zahnschmerzen

pain Schmerzen

hair Haare

furniture Mobel

Others are plural in English but always singular in German:

clothes die K1eidung

trousers die Hose

eye glasses die Brille

scissors die Schere

LEARN BY HEART

Here are some nouns you might need when talking about your family or ~oing out shopping. Use your dictionary to find the plural forms and wnte them down, together with the English meaning.

1. Mann 4. Kind 7. Taxi 10. Bus

2. Apfel 5. Mantel 8. Tomate 11. Kartoffel

3. Kaufhaus 6. Glas 9. Fahrkarte 12. Geschiift

Now cover them up and learn by heart.

Here are some signs you will nearly always see in the plural. Can you match the English words with the German?

1. Zigaretten

2. Darnen

3. Mobel

4. Likiire

5. Herren

6. Streichhiilzer

7. Lebensrnittel

8. Toiletten

9. Spirituosen

liqueurs/ matches! toilets/ Iiquors/ Ladies/ furniture/ Gentlemen/ food/ cigarettes/

ANSWERS

1. M~nner (m~n) 2. Apfel (~pples) 3. Kaufhauser (department stores) 4. Km~er (c~l[dren) 5. Mantel (coats) 6. Glaser (drinking glasses) 7. TaXIS (taxis) 8. Tomaten (tomatoes) 9. Fahrkarten (tickets) 10. Busse (buses) 11. Kartoffeln (potatoes) 12. Geschafte (stores)

1. cigarettes 2. Ladies 3. furniture 4. liqueurs 5. Gentlemen 6. matches 7. food 8. Toilets 9. liquors


Cases

INTRODUCTION

In English, nouns are quite simple. Usually the only thing you have to bother about is adding -s for the plural. But in German, nouns have four different cases.

Case refers to the role of a particular noun or pronoun in a particular sentence. You may never have thought about nouns or pronouns as having different roles unless you have studied grammar.

If you take a sentence like: 'John wanted me to give him an apple', you can see that there are several nouns or pronouns in this sentence. If we try to replace 'John' with a pronoun we could say: 'Him wanted to give me an apple', or 'He wanted to give me an apple'. But one of these is wrong. Similarly we don't say: 'John wanted 1 to give he an apple'. Why not?

The reason these versions are wrong is that 'J' and 'he' can only playa certain role in a sentence. We say that '1' or 'he' must be the subject of the sentence, in other words the person doing the action. Similarly 'me' or 'him' cannot be the subject of the sentence. They are on the receiving end of the action (or the verb). We say that 'him' or 'me' must be the object of the sentence. In English, the subject usually comes before the verb and the object comes after it.

Furthermore, we make a difference between different kinds of objects, the direct object and the indirect object.

What John said was: 'Give me the apple'. Here we have two objects: 'me' and 'the apple'. Which one does John want? - 'the apple'. We call this the direct object. We call 'me' the indirect object because John really means: 'Give (to) me the apple'.

When looking at German grammar, these three different roles, subject, direct object and indirect object are called cases.

The subject corresponds to the nominative case;

the direct object corresponds to the accusative case;

the indirect object corresponds to the dative case;

and there is one more: the genitive case, which is used for possession, e.g. 'my brother's house' etc.

Nouns Cases/81 In English we only notice the different cases when using pronouns such as IIme or he/him. But III German you notice the cases with nouns as well. The fact that a noun is in for example the dative or the accusative case will affect the endings of words that accompany nouns: -der/die/das (definite article, see p.94);

-einlkein (indefinite article, see p.97);

- meinlI_hrlseinlihr etc. (possessive adjectives, see p.120);

- adjectives, see p.110

as well as the words that replace nouns: -pronouns, see p.99.

~.B. usually the noun itself does not change. You use the form you find III the dictionary. However, there are a few common nouns which add-n or -en In all cases except the nominative singular:

der StUdent (-en) student

der Bauer (-0) farmer

der Junge (-n) boy

der Name (-n) name

der Herr (-n) gentleman

HOW TO USE

To find out mon~, look ~p n<_>minative, accusative, dative and genitive, where each case IS explained Il1 full. If you want to see an overall picture of German case endings, check with the section on patterns (p.161).

Nominative case

INTRODUCTION

Nominative describes the role of a particular noun or pronoun in a particular sentence.

WHEN TO USE

Nouns are in the nominative case:

1. when they are doing the action, i.e. when they are the subject of the yerb. Look at these examples. The noun in the nominative case is in italics.


Dss Telefon klingelt.

Peter raucht eine Zigarette. Die Deutschen essen viel

Schweinefleisch.

Da driiben liegt meine Tescbe. Gestern ist meine Schwester gekommen.

Wo wohnt lhre Mutter?

The phone is ringing. Peter's having a cigarette.

The Germans eat a lot of pork.

My purse is over there.

My sister arrived yesterday.

Where does your mother live?

From these examples it is clear that the noun in the nominative case is not automatically at the beginning of the sentence as It usually IS In English, so it is sometimes a bit tricky to work out who did what to whom! The clue is to look for the signs:

a) verb ending- tells you whether the subject is singular or plural and

which person (he/you/they etc); . .

b) the der/die/das form or einlkein/meinlIhr form also gives informa-

tion about singular/plural and case;

c) use your common sense! The cigarette didn't smoke Peter.

2. After verbs like sein (to be) and werden (to become) where t~e person before and after the verb are one ~nd the same, e.g. Mem Bruder ist Ingenieur. Mein Bruder and Ingenieur are one and the same person so both are in the nominative case.

EXPLANATION

If a noun is in the nominative case, you use the form you find in the dictionary for either singular or plural. The accompanying words look like this:

NOMINATIVE ENDINGS

Singular Plural
der group die group das group all groups
(no ending) (-e ending) (no ending) (-e ending)
der die das die the
ein eine ein - a/an
kein keine kein keine nolnot ... any
mein meine mein meine my
Ihr Ihre Ihr Ihre your Try to teach yourself: can you spot the pattern of endings?

Nominative case/S3

PRONOUNS

Pronouns are used to replace nouns and therefore can also be in the nominative case. If a pronoun is performing the action, it is the subject of the verb and looks like this:

Singular Plural
ich (I) wir (we)
er (he/it) to replace der words
sie (she/it) to replace die words sie (they) to replace
es (it) to replace das words die plural
Sie (you) Sie (you) PRACTICE/LEARN BY HEART In order to ask about other people's families etc., you need the nornmative case and a few basic verbs such as: sein (to be), hahen (to have), arbeiten (to work), wohnen (to live). kommen (to come), gehen (to go). Can you underline the nominative words in these statements and questions?

1. Das ist mein Mann.

2. Er ist Beamter.

3. Wir wohnen in San Francisco.

4. Wir haben drei Kinder.

5. Was sind Sie von Beruf?

This is my husband. He is a civil servant.

We live in San Francisco. We have three children.

What do you do (for a living)?

the

Now fill in the blanks with facts about yourself. Then 'learn questions and information by heart.

1. ist (your name).

2 bin (your job).

3 komme aus (your town).

4 arbeitet in (town).

My name is (your name). I am a (your job).

I live in (your town).

My husband/wife etc. works in (town).


1. Das, mein Mann 2. Er, Beamter 3. Wir 4. Wir 5. Sie 2nd exercise

1. Mein Name 2. Ich 3. Ich 4. Mein Mann/Meine Frau


Accusative case

INTRODUCTION .

A ccusative describes the role of a particular noun or pronoun In a

particular sentence.

EXPLANATION . .

Nouns and the words which either accompany them (adJec~lves,

der/die/das or einlkein/mein etc.) or replace them (pronouns) are In the accusative case when they are the direct object of the verb, r.e. on the receiving end of the action.

Look at these examples:

Ich mochte ein kaltes Bier.

Den Mann kann ich nicht leiden, Das verstehe ieh nicht.

Rufen Sie mich bitte an.

Kochen Sie Kaffee?

I'd like a cold beer.

I can't stand that man. I don't understand that. Please give me a call. Are you making coffee?

All the italicized words are in the accusative case. In English the word order is quite rigid: 1. subject 2. verb 3. direct object; but as you can see in German the accusative can be found almost anywhere in the sentence. This can be a bit confusing.

The key is to look for the signs of the accusative:

1. Endings of der/die/da.s, ein/kein/mein etc. .

2. Verb ending - tells you who is performing the acuon, and whether the subject is singular or plural. This helps you to narrow down the

possibilities. .?

3. The meaning of the sentence as a whole - does It make sense.

HOW TO USE .

If a noun is in the accusative case, you use the form you find III the dictionary for the singular or plural. The accompanying words look

like this:

Accusative case/85

ACCUSATIVE ENDINGS

Singular Plural
del' group die group das group all groups
(-n/-en ending) (-e ending) (no ending) (-e ending)
den die das die
einen eine ein -
keinen keine kein keine
meinen meine mein meine
Ihren Ihre Ihr Ihre For the details about adjectives, see p.llO.

As you can see, the accusative affects the der group much more than any other, and the sign to look for is the ending on.

Pronouns in the accusative go like this:

Singular Plural
mich (me) uns (us)
ihn (him/it) to replace den
words
sie (her/it) to replace die sic (them) to replace die
words plural
es (it) to replace das Sie (you)
words
Sie (you)
sich (yourself) sich (yourself) WHEN TO USE

1. With the direct object.

2. There are certain prepositions (see p.127) which always take the accusative case .. The most common are: fur, durch and ohne.

Das ist fiir meinellSohn. That's for my son.

Gehen Sie durch den Park. Go through the park.


3. The prepositions in/an/auf with verbs of movement always take the accusative case.

Ich gehe heute abend ills Theater. (in das-> ins)

Wir fahren morgen in die Stadt.

Gehen wir an den Strand? Er fahrt morgen auf eine Konferenz,

I'm going to the theater this evening.

We're going into town tomorrow.

Are we going to the beach? He's going to a conference tomorrow.

4. The expression es gibt (there is/there are) is always followed by the accusative case. Es gibt keinen Asehenbeeher. Gibt es hier in der Niihe eine

Bank?

5. Expressions of time. einen Moment dieseWoehe nechste« J ahr

Er war eine Woche krank. leh bleibe einen Monat,

There's no ashtray.

Is there a bank around here?

just a moment this week

next year

He was sick for a week. I'm staying for a month.

HOW TO USE

Once you have decided that a noun or pronoun is in the accusative case:

1. Decide whether your noun is singular or plural.

2. Decide which group it belongs to.

3. Choose the right ending for your accompanying word or replace-

ment pronoun.

If you want to say 'I'd like an ice cream', you know 'ice cream' is the direct object, therefore accusative case.

1. Eis is singular.

2. Eis belongs to the das group.

3. Therefore you say: leh miichte ein Eis.

If you want to say, 'I'm looking for a present for my boyfriend', you know 'present' is the direct object, therefore accusative case. 'My boyfriend' is accusative after fiir (see p.127).

1. Both Geschenk and Freund are singular.

2. Gesehenk belongs to the das group, Freund to the der group.

3. Therefore you say: Ich suche ein Geschenk fiir meinen Freund.

Accusative case!87 Now go back and look at all the examples once again to make sure you understand.

Here are some important phrases if you stay in a German hotel. Look at the English translation then fill in the correct form of the missing words. They are all accusative.

1. Haben Sie Zimmer frei? Do you have a room?

2. leh miiehte Doppelzimmer fiir I'd like a double room for two

zwei ... nights.

3. Kann ich hier ... Reisescheck Can I cash a traveler's check

einlosen? here?

4. Kiinnen Sie bitte " Can you please change a 100

Hundertmarkschein weehseln? Mark note?

5. Gibt es hier Telefon? Is there a telephone here?

6. Gibt es hier Toilette? Is there a washroom here?

7. Gibt es hier Reinigung? Is there a dry cleaning service

. here?

Is there a parking lot here? I don't understand you.

Is there any mail for me? That's for you.

Could you please give me a call

at 8 o'clock?

I'd like a newspaper. I'd like a pot of coffee. I'd like an ashtray. Just a minute please. I'll get my luggage.

I'll get my suitcase.

I'll get my purse.

I'll get my car.

8. 9. 10. II. 12.

Gibt es hier Parkplatz?

leh verstehe nieht.

Gibl es Post fiir ... ? Das ist fur ...

Kiinnten Sie ... bitte urn 8 Uhr

weeken?

Ich mochte Zeitung.

leh miichte Kiinnehen Kaffee.

leh rnochte Aschenbecher,

'" Augenbliek bitte.

leh hole Gepiick.

leh hole Koffer.

Ich hole Tasehe.

leh hole Auto.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

ANSWERS

1. ein 2. ein, Nachte 3. einen 4. einen 5. ein 6. eine 7. eine 8. einen 9. Sie 10. mich 11. Sie 12. mich 13. eine 14. ein 15. einen 16. einen 17. mein 18. rneinen 19. meine 20. mein

88!Nice "n Easy German Grammar

Dative case

INTRODUCTION

Although we virtually possess no dative case in English, it is extremely important in German, particularly in many comm~n conversational situations such as inquiring after someone's well-being, whether they are enjoying their meal, what they like and dislike etc.

EXPLANATION

Nouns and the words which accompany them (der/die/das, ein/keinl mein etc., adjectives) or replace them (pronouns) are in the dative case when they are the indirect object of the verb. In English we tend to use 'to' /'for' to indicate the indirect object, but the Germans prefer to use endings to express the dative.

First let us be quite sure what we mean by indirect object. If we take a sentence like 'I bought myself a beautiful coat yesterday', we can break down the sentence as follows:

Subject of verb = I

Verb = bought

Object of verb = a beautiful coat

But what about 'myself? I didn't hand over money and buy myself. I bought a beautiful coat for myself. This is what we mean by the indirect object as distinct from the direct object - 'a beautiful coat'.

Here are some more examples. The dative is italicized.

Zeigen Sie mirbitte auf der Karte, Please show me on the map (show to me).

Er bat unsdie Zeitung gebracht. He brought us the newspaper (i.e. brought to us).

The most common verbs you will find with an indirect object are: geben (to give), bringen (to bring), zeigen (to show), kaufen (to buy), schicken (to send), sagen (to say, tell).

Dative case/89

HOW TO USE

How do you recognize the dative in German? The word order in the sentence won't help you very much, so you will have to recognize the endings which express the dative, which are:

for der/das group words -m (think of him)

for die group words -r (think of her)

for all plural words -n

Look at the patterns:

DATIVE ENDINGS

Singular Plural
der group die group das group all groups
(-m ending) (-r ending) (-m ending) (-n ending)
+ noun, which
adds -n/-en
dem der dem den
einem einer einem -
keinem keiner keinem keinen
meinem meiner meinem meinen
Ihrem Ihrer Ihrem Ihren The pronouns in the dative are:

Singular Plural
mir (me) uns (us)
ihm (him/it) to replace dem words
ihr (her/it) to replace der words ihnen (them) to replace den
ihm(it) to replace dem words plural
Ihnen (you) Ihnen (you)
sich (yourself) sich (yourself) As you can see, every group is affected by the dative, so try to learn the patterns above. Does it matter? Yes and no. You can get away with swallowing in the right places and bluffing. I suggest you at least try to remember mir and Ihnen because they occur very frequently and are much more noticeable than the others if you get them wrong. For those who would like to sound correct, try learning our examples by heart, but don't get too preoccupied with being correct - it takes the Germans years to learn it at school!


EXPLANATION

1. The dative case is also used with other types of phrases which mean 'to like something' 'to belong' (to).

Es gefiillt mir. I like it (people, things, places).

Es schmeckt mir. I like it (food, drink). Literally:

'it tastes good to me'.

Do you like the wine? That belongs to me.

Schmeckt Ihnen der Wein? Das gehiirt mir.

2. Some very common expressions which must be learned by heart:

Guten Tag, wie geht es Ihnen? Hello, how are you?

Danke, es geht mirgut. I'm very well thank you.

Und wie geht es Ihrem MannI And how's your husband/wife?

IhrerFrau?

Mirist schlecht. Oh, das tut mir leid.

1st Ihnen zu warm/kalt? Mir ist warmlkalt.

Das ist mir egal,

I'm not feeling very well. Oh, I'm sorry.

Are you too hot/cold? I'm too hot/cold.

I don't care.

3. With a few verbs which in English do not take an indirect object: helfen (to help), danken (to thank), glauben (to believe).

Wir glauben ihm nieht. We don't believe him.

Kann ich Ihnen helfen? Can I help you?

Ich danke Ihnen. Thank you.

4. When describing some personal would use 'my/your/his' etc.

Ich will mir die Ziihne putzen.

Ich lasse mir die Haare schneiden.

activities where in English we

I want to brush my teeth.

I'm going to have my hair cut.

5. After many prepositions (see p.127). The most common are bel, ZU, mit, von, nacho

Wir haben mit den Kindem We played with the children.

gespielt.

Ich wohne be! meinen Eltern. I live with my parents.

Nach den neuesten Nachrichten. According to the latest news.

Dative case/91

6. After the prepositions an/in/aufwith a verb describing position (see p.127).

Ich wohne in tler DahlemstraBe. I live in DahlemstraJ3e.

Die Zeitung Iiegt auf dem Tisch. The newspaper is on the table.

HOW TO USE

Having decided that the word you want to use is dative,

1. Decide whether your noun is singular or plural.

2. Decide which group it belongs to (der/die/das).

3. Choose the right ending for your accompanying word or replace. ment pronoun.

You want to say: 'Give him the book'.

1. 'Him' is singular.

2. 'Him' is a pronoun replacing a dem word.

3. Therefore you say: Geben Sie ihmdas Buch.

You want to say: 'How's your brother today?'

1. Bruder is singular.

2. Bruder is a der group word.

3. Therefore you say: Wie geht es Ihrem Bruder?


Here are some very useful phrases for personal conversations. Try to fill In the blanks. They are all dative and are in our examples above.

1. Kann Ich ... helfen?

2. . .. ist schlecht.

3. Wiegehtes ?

4. Wie geht es Frau?

5. Die Bluse gefiillt ...

6. Schmeckt der Wein?

7. Oh, das tut leid.

Can I help you?

I feel sick.

How are you? How's your wife? I like the blouse.

Do you like the wine? Oh, I am sorry.

ANSWERS

1. Ihnen 2. Mil' 3. Ihnen 4. Ihrer 5. mir 6. Ihnen 7. rnir

92jNice 'n Easy German Grammar

Gen itive case

INTRODUCTION

Genitive means possessive, and the genitive case is a way of showing who owns what. It translates the English's or 'of', e.g. 'My brother's car', 'the top of the hill' etc.

HOW TO USE

This is what the genitive looks like:

des + -5 or -es on noun der des + -5 or -es on noun der
eines + -( e)5 einer eines + -(e)s -
keines + -( e)s keiner keines + -( e)s keiner
meines + -(e)s meiner meines + -( e)5 meiner Notice that, for der/das group words, -s or -es is added on to the noun. For die group and plural words, there is no extra ending for the noun.

In addition to showing possession the genitive case is also used after some prepositions and other expressions: wahrend (during); wegen (because of); trotz (ill spite of); aufgrund (because of); im Laufe (in the course of/during); in der Nahe (near).

Examples:

1st das das Haus Ihrer Eltern? Das ist Onkel Fritz, dec Bruder

meiner Mutter.

Das konnen wir wahrend des Essens besprechen,

Wir horen im Laufe des Tsges von ihm.

Das ist der Wagen meines Freundes,

Man sieht den Gipfel des Berges nicht,

Angebol des Monats Auto des Jahres

Is this your parents' house? This is uncle Fritz, my mother's brother.

We can talk about that over lunch.

We'll hear from him in the course of the day.

This is my friend's car.

You can't see the summit of the mountain.

Special offer of the month Car of the year

Genitive case/93

With people's names you add s:

Petras Bruder Hermanns Schwester etc.

To ~um up: the sign of the genitive for der/das words is an -5 + -s or .es ending on the noun, and for die words and plural ones it is -r + no special ending for the noun.


The definite article

INTRODUCTION

'The' is a relatively minor piece of English grammar because it has only one form, but in German the words for 'the' are extremely important. There are several forms for the word 'the'. Every noun (see p.75) belongs to one of three groups. If you look up a noun in a dictionary, you will probably find something like: m. (masculine) or f. (feminine) or n. (neuter) after it to teU you which group it belongs to.

der group (m. in dictionary) die group (f. in dictionary) das group (n. in dictionary)

Der/die/das etc. are used whenever we use 'the' in English, and they nearly always are followed by a noun. Before you decide which form of der/die/das to use you have to know a few things about the accompanying noun:

1. whether it is singular or plural;

2. which der/die/das group it belongs to;

3. what role it plays in this particular sentence (i.e. case, see p.80).

EXPLANATION Look at the pattern:

Singular Plural for all 3 groups
der group die group dasgroup
Nom. der die das die
Ace. den die das die
Dat. dem der dem den
Gen. des der des der This looks like a lot, but you will help yourself if you concentrate on two ideas:

1. Reduce your learning to the minimum by remembering: nominative and accusative are the same for all groups except the der (masculine singular) group, where der changes to den in the accusative.

The definite articl~95

And for the dative remember:

-m ending for der/das groups

-r ending for die group

-n ending for all plurals

2. These endings set the pattern for many other endings. If you learn them thoroughly now, you will find other grammar points much easier to cope with.

HOW TO USE

In order to decide which form of der/die/das is the correct one, you have to follow three steps:

1. Decide whether the accompanying noun is singular or plural;

2. If it is Singular, which group does it belong to?

3. What role does it play in this sentence? (which case?)

For example, you want to say: 'The car is in the garage'.

1. Both nouns are singular.

2. Das Auto; die Garage.

3. Auto is nominative because it is the subject of the verb. Garage is dative after in + dative for position (see p.128).

Das Auto ist in der Garage.

You want to ask: 'Where are the toilets?'

1. 'Toilets' is a plural noun.

2. Does not apply here.

3. Toiletten is nominative because it is the subject of the verb. Wo sind die Toiletten?

WHEN TO USE

Der/die/das is used just the same as 'the' in English, for example:

Wo ist das Telefon? Where's the telephone?

Wo ist die Tiir? Where is the door?

Wann kommt der nachste Bus? When's the next bus?

Der/die/das is sometimes used differently from the English 'the':

L With people'~ names. You will often hear German people refer to friends and relatives as: der Peter, die Monika, der Schmidt etc. This is colloquial and only acceptable When you are on very friendly terms.


2. Die meisten = most

Die meisten Englander trinken

Tee mit Milch.

3. With prices, der/die/das = per

Zwanzig Pfennig das Stuck. Twenty Pfennigs apiece.

Zehn Mark das Kilo. Ten Marks per kilo.

Most English people drink tea with milk.

4. The names of some countries: dieSchweiz

die BRD (die Bundesrepublik Deutschland)

die DDR (die Deutsche

Demokratische Republik) die Sowjetunion

die USA/die Vereinigten Staaten die Turkel

die Niederlande

Switzerland

The Federal Republic of Germany

The German Democratic Republic

The Soviet Union

The USAfThe United States Turkey

The Netherlands

LEARN BY HEART .

Nobody expects you to know the der/die/das group for every noun In the German language but you will help yourself a great deal If you try to learn the common ones.

Here are some places you may need to find at any German train station or airport. It will help you to be able to ask where to find ~hem:

1 Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist ... Excuse me, where IS the

. Restaurant? restaurant? .

2. Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist ... Excuse me, where IS the

Auskunft? information desk? .

3. Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist ... Excuse me, where IS the taxi

Taxistand? stand?

4. Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo ist ... Excuse me, where IS the

Wechselstube? exchange booth?

5. Entschuldigen Sie bitte, wo sind ... Excuse me, where are the

Toiletten? washrooms?

ANSWERS

1. das 2. die3. der 4. die 5. die

The indefinite article/97

The indefinite article

INTRODUCTION

The indefinite article ('a', 'an') is used when you are not referring to any specific object already mentioned. In German, you use the word ein orone of its forms. Ein always accompanies a noun, and therefore it has endings which change depending on theder/die/das group the noun belongs to and also the role the noun is playing in that particular sentence (i.e. case). 'A'/'an' is a very straightforward little word in English, but in German ein has a whole system of endings.

EXPLANATION


Ich mochte eineTasse Kaffee. Maben Sie einen Bleistift? Gibt es hier in der Nahe eine

Bushaltestelle?

I'd like a cup of coffee. Have you got a pencil?

Is there a bus stop near here?

Warning! If you have a negative sentence involving 'not a'I'not an', you must never say nieht ein. Instead you must always use kein or one of its forms. This is a very important German grammar point (see p.70).

HOW TO USE

der group die group das group
Nom. ein eine ein
Ace. einen eine ein
Dat. einem einer einem
Gen. eines einer eines This pattern is important because it is the model for kein and the possessive adjectives (mein, ihr etc.) (see p.l20; see also p.161 an overview of endings).

Checklist for using ein:

1. Decide which group the accompanying noun belongs to (der/die/ das).

2. Decide which role the noun is playing in the particular sentence.

Pronouns/99


You want to say: 'I have a son and a daughter'.

1. Der Sohn, die Tochter. . .

2. Both nouns are accusative because they are the direct object of the

verb.

So you say: Ich habe einen Sohn und eine Tochter.

You want to say: 'I am staying with a family in Berlin'.

1. Die Familie

2. 'Family' is dative after bei (see p.131). .

So you say: Ich wohne bei einer Familie in Berlin.

PRACTICE/LEARN BY HEART .

Using the checklist above, fill in the correct form <;>f em: ?

1. Was kostet ein- Kilo? How much IS a kilo.

2. Das ist ein- schone Wohnung. This is a lovely apartment.

3. Haben Sie ein- Zimmmer frei? Have you got a ro<;>m?

4. lch rnochte ein- Schachtel I'd like a pack of Cigarettes.

Zigaretten.

5. Wir haben ein- guten Film We saw a good movie.

gesehen.

WHEN TO USE

There are a few situations when English 'alan' is different from

German:

1. With people's jobs, leave out ein in German:

Sie ist Sekretarin. She's a secretary.

Ich bin Ingenieur. I'm an engineer.

2. In expressions of time, use pro ( = per)

einmal pro Woche once a week

zweimal pro Tag twice a day

3. Expressions like 'half a', 'such a', 'what a':

ein halbes Pfund Edamer half a pound of Edam cheese

So ein netter Junge! what a nice boy!. I

so eine nette Uberraschung! what a nice surprise.

4. 'Alotof'=viel Er hat viel Geld.

He has a lot of money.

ANSWERS

1. ein 2. eine 3. ein 4. eine 5. einen

Pronouns

INTRODUCTION

Pronouns make our language neater and more compact. Once we have mentioned 'the lady who lives down the street with her husband and ten cats', we don't want to repeat all this each time we talk about the lady, so we use she and her to replace the long description. In other words, once we have established who orwhat we are talking about, we use pronouns as a quick reference.

EXPLANATION

Pronouns refer to people and things and they often replace nouns. Therefore they also have cases, depending on their function in the sentence. If you are not quite sure what cases are, see p.80. The endings of verbs also change depending on the noun or pronoun performing the action.

Personal pronouns

1. Refer to people:

Nom. ich (I) Sie (you) wir (we)
Acc. mich (me) Sie (you) uns (us)
Dat. mir (me) Ihnen (you) uns (us) 2. Refer to people and things and replace nouns:

Plural
Replace der group die group das group all groups
Nom. er (he/it) sie (she/it) es (it) sie (they)
Acc. ihn (him/it) sie (her/it) es (it) sie (them)
Dar. ihm (him/it) ihr (herlit) ihm (it) ihnen (them) It looks like a lot, but can you see any patterns to help you? Look at p.161 for an overall picture of ending patterns.

l00/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

Notes

1. Sie is the polite form of you. Always use it unless you are on extremely friendly terms. For the informal du etc., see p.I03. As in English, Sie is both singular and plural. The verb always ends in -en. Sie and Ihnen (meaning 'you') are always written with a capital letter.

Sometimes it's difficult to figure out in a conversation whether Sie/sie means youlshelulthey. Then it's important to listen for the verb ending. If it's -t, Sie/sie meanssheor it and you have to recall whether a thing or a person (female) has been mentioned. If it's -en, sie means you or theylthem. If it's they/them, there must have been a noun somewhere along the line. If you've lost track, ask wer? (who?) or was? (what?).

2. It in English always refers to things. But in German, things belong to all three groups of nouns (der/die/das). So if you were talking about a thing in the der group, you would replace it by er/ihn/ihm depending on the case.

Wo ist der Tisch? Ich sehe ihn Wo ist meine BIuse? Ich finde sie

nieht. nieht.

So don't be tempted to say es for it every time. It's just as likely to be a variation of er or sie.

3. Notice that ich (I) is written with a small letter when it's not the first word in a sentence.

HOW TO USE

When using pronouns, follow these three steps:

1. Decide whether the noun or pronoun is singular or plural.

2. Decide which group it belongs to: der - er, die - sie, das - es.

3. Decide which case it is in.

You want to say: 'He (my brother) is very happy there'.

1. He is singular.

2. He is replacing a der group word, Bruder, brother.

3. He is nominative, because it is the subject of is. So you say: Er ist sehr gliicklich dort.

You want to say: 'Could you help us please?'

1. You could be singular or plural, us is plural.

2. You and us are not replacing nouns.

3. You is nominative (performing the action), us is dative after helfen. So you say: Konnten Sie uns bitte helfen?

Pronouns Personal pronouns/IOj

PRACTICE

Now try this exercise. Fill in the blanks and replace the italicized phrases by pronouns.

I'm very pleased with the camera.

I'm going into town with my friend.

My brother bought the red car.

The people have come from all over the place.

We can put the tent up over there.

LEARN BY HEART

Here are some u eful expressions with personal pronouns to express how people feel, what they want etc.

I'm hungry/thirsty. I'm cold/hot.

We're freezing/boiling hot.

I have to go to the bathroom. It hurts.

I've got a headache. He/she i feeling sick. He's very pale. He/she's fine.

Are you tired/ill/nervous? Are you in pain?

How are you?

ANSWERS

I. lch, ihr 2. Ich, ihm 3. Er, ihn 4. Sie 5. Wir, es

1. . .. bin mit der Kamera sehr zufrieden.

2 .... fahre mit meinem Freund in die Stadt.

3. Mein Bruder hat den roten Wagen gekauft.

4. Die Leutesind von iiberallher.

5. ... konnen das Zeit da druben aufstellen.

Ich habe Hunger/Durst. Mirist kaltlwarm.

Wir frieren/schwitzen. Ich mull auf die Toilette. Es tut mir weh.

Ieh habe Kopfschmerzen. Ihm/ihr ist schlecht.

Er ist ganz blall.

Es geht ihmlihrgut.

Sind Sie mtide/krank/nervos? Haben SieSchmerzen?

Wie geht es Ihnen?

lO2,lNice 'n Easy German Grammar

man

INTRODUCTION

man is an impersonal pronoun. You will come across it particularly when reading or being given instructions, asking for suggestions or help, talking about official regulations or making very general statements or questions.

EXPLANATION

man is a very useful little word. It can be used to translate the English words: 'one', 'people', 'someone', 'you' (impersonal), 'they' (not specific). It also offers a convenient way of avoid~ng the passive (see p.47) in German. It can be used whenever you don t want to be specific about a person or people.


Man trinkt viel Tee in England. Hier mun man immer lange

warten.

Hier kann man iiberall gut essen.

They drink a lot of tea in England. You always have to wait a long time here.

You can get a good meal

everywhere here.

English spoken (sign in store). Smoking not permitted.

How do you say that in German? I was told .. ./Someone said to

me ...

Man spricht Englisch.

Hier darf man nicht rauchen. Wie sagt man das auf deutsch? Man hat mir gesagt ...

HOW TO USE

man is a pronoun and therefore it has cases:

Nom. man

Acc. einen

Dat. einem

In practice, you will probably only need to use man. Man takes the same verb ending as erlsie/es which is -to

Man verdientgut hier. The pay is good here. (One earns

well here.)

Warning: Don't get man (one/you/people etc.) mixed up with Mann (husband/man).

Here are some questions you might want to use:

I. Wo wirft man das Geld ein? Where do you (does one) insert

the money?

Where can you (can one) change money?

What can you do there?

What can you do in the town?

LEARN BY HEART

2. Wo kann man Geld wechseln?

3. Was kann man da machen?

4. Was kann man in der Stadt unternehmen?

5. Wie kommt man am besten dahin?

6. Wie kommt man am besten zur Autobahn?

7. Wie spricht man das aus?

Pronouns Personal pronouns/103

8. Kann man das reparieren?

9. Braucht man ein Visum/eine Karte?

du / ihr

What's the best way to get there?

What's the best way to get to the expressway?

How do you (does one) pronounce that?

Can it be repaired?

Do you (does one) need a visa/ ticket?

INTRODUCTION

One of the most important things about learning a foreign language is to develop an awareness ~f when certain words are appropriate - and when they are not. This IS as Important to good communication as vocabulary and grammar. English-speaking people in particular shou.ld b~ car~ful when they. use the familiar forms du ('you', singular) and ihr ( ~ou , plural) :- usmg them at the wrong time could create ternble misunderstandings, even lose you a business contract for

~m~. '

WHEN TO USE

It is perfectly OK to use du/ihr when talking to children or animals. However, do not use du/ihr with adults:

1. If you are a child/teenager/student etc. and they are much older _ even If they call you duo

2. Unless you are a member of a group of e.g. students, fellow golfers etc. who are all pals together, and everybody uses du to each other.


3. Unless your German friend/business contact etc. suggests you both call each other duo This will quite often be accompanied by a formal drinking to the new intimate relationship. The suggestion might be made like this:

Wollen wir uns nicht duzen? Shall we call each other du?

Duzen means 'to say du to someone', or to be on first-name terms.

The reason that du/ihr present problems for English speakers is that in English we have only one word 'you' to cover all degrees of formality. We express formality or informality, keep our distance or get friendly quickly by using titles and names in different ways. Have you ever felt slightly affronted when someone has called you by your first name and you weren't quite ready to get on such friendly terms? Somethi~g similar happens if you use du to a German acquaintance. They will probably feel a bit insulted, and certainly embarrassed.

With du you use first names. Once you are on du terms with somebody, you have established a familiar relationship. It is virtually impossible to go back on the decision to say du to someone, even if you decide that you don't like them very much after all or don't want to be on such familiar terms. That is why the Germans are a bit wary at first of offering du to new acquaintances. It does not mean that they are being unfriendly.

Therefore, for most people most of the time, the safest thing is always to use Sie + Herr/FraulFraulein + last name to all adults unless any of the conditions 1-3 above apply.

HOW TO USE 1. Verbs.

The du form of the verb ends in -st, the ihr form ends in -t.

Present tense

For weak verbs add -st

du machst, du friihstiickst etc.

add -t

ihr macht, ihr friihstiickt

For strong verbs there is often a stem change in the du form, but not in the ihr form. schlafen lesen nehmen

du schlafst du liest

ihr schlaft ihr lest

dunimmst

ihrnehmt

Pronouns Personal pronouns/IDS For modal verbs add -st to the ich/erlsie/es form to make the du form add -t to the infinitive stem to make the ihr form. '

wollen du willst ihr wollt

konnen du kannst ihr konnt

Imperative

For the du imperative take off the -st ending from the du form of the presen.t tens~. Strong verbs which take an umlaut in the present tense lose It rn the rmperative. The ihr imperative is the same as the ihr form of the present tense.

schlafen

schlaf

schlaft nehmt

nehmen

nimm

Schlafgut! Sei still! Kommher!

Sleep well! Keep still! Come here!

Imperfect tense

~or the du form, add -st and for the ihr form, add -t to the usual Imperfect stem.

Weak verbs:

du machtest, du fragtest etc. ihr machtet, ihr fragtet etc.

Strong verbs:

du ant (from essen), du nahmst ihr ant, ihr nahmt etc.

(from nehmen) etc.

Modal verbs:

du mufltest (from miissen), ihr mufltet, ihr wolltet etc.

du wolltest (from wollen) etc.

Perfect tense

Use du hastlihr habt; } '..

du bistlihr seid. + past participle in the usual way (see p.18)

Pluperfect tense

Use du hattest, du warstlihr hattet, ihr wart + past participle in the usual way (see p.24).

Future

Use du wirstlihr werdet + infinitive (see p.2S).

Passive

Use du wirstlihr werdet + past participle for the present tense. Use du wurdest/ihr wurdet + past participle for the imperfect tense (see p.47).

lO6/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

2. Personal pronouns

Nom. du ihr

Acc. dich euch

Dat. dir euch

N.B. in letter writing, du and ihr are written with a capital letter.

Here are some examples of du/ihr to give you a feeling for how to use them.

Hast du die TOr zugemacht? Kannst du dich erinnern? Mach dir keine Sorgen.

Ich gebe dir den Schliissel. Wolltest du auch mitfahren? Setz dich.

Was wollt ihr jetzt machen? Was habt ihr vor?

Konnen wir heute zu euch

kommen?

Wie geht es euch?

Wie gefallt euch die Wohnung? Bitte setzt euch.

Bitte kommt herein.

3. Possessive adjectives

dein euer

They follow the same pattern of endings as ein/mein etc. (see p.97).

Have you closed the door? Can you remember? Don't worry.

I'll give you the key. Did you want to go too? Sit down.

What do you want to do now? What are you intending to do? Can we come to your place today?

How are you?

How do you like the apartment? Please sit down.

Please come in.

Relative pronouns

INTRODUCTION

We use relative pronouns ('who', 'which' etc.) to refer to specific people or things we have already mentioned in a previous part of the sentence. In English, we use 'who' (or 'whom') for people and 'which' or 'that' for things. Sometimes we omit the relative pronoun altogether, but nevertheless it is still assumed or understood to be there. Look at these examples: This is the girl who helped me'; 'Do you have any pills that are effective against migraine?'; 'The man I want to see IS

Pronouns Relative pronouns/107 away today' (whom is omitted); That's the drink I tried yesterday' (which is omitted).

EXPLANATION

Relative pronouns act as a bridge between one clause and another. They refer back to an object or person in the previous clause and they also play an important grammatical role in their own clause.

In German the relative pronouns are:

for der words for die words for das words for plural words
Nom. der die das die
Acc. den die das die
Dat. dem der dem denen
Gen. dessen deren dessen deren As you can see there is a very close connection between relative pronouns and the der/die/das form of the words they refer to. There is no separate form for 'who' and 'which'.

HOW TO USE

Like all pronouns, relative pronouns have different endings depending on:

1. whether the noun they refer back to is singular or plural;

2. which der/die/das group it belongs to;

3. which role the relative pronoun is playing in its own clause (i.e. case).

Examples:

Der Film, derheute im Fernsehen The movie that is on TV today is

lauft, ist sehr gut. very good.

1. Film is singular.

2. Film is a der word.

3. That' is in the nominative case in its part of the sentence because it is the subject of lauft.

Der Wagen, den ich gemietet habe, The car I have rented has broken

ist kaputt. down.

1. Wagen is singular.

2. Wagen is a der word.

3. 'Which' (understood) is in the accusative case in its part of the sentence because it is the object of ich habe gemietet.


You can also use relative pronouns with prepositions ('with', 'from' etc.). Das ist die Frau, von derich die

Tasche gekauft habe.

That's the lady I bought the purse from (from whom I bought the purse).

1. Frau is singular.

2. Frau is a die word.

3. 'Whom' (understood) is dative after von.

Das sind die Leute, mit denen ich Those are the people I work with

zusammen arbeite. (with whom I work).

1. Leute is plural.

2. Not relevant because Leute is plural.

3. 'Whom' (understood) is dative after mit.

You probably think of der/die/das only as meaning 'the', so this role as 'who'l'which' takes a little getting used to. Study the examples carefully to make sure you follow what is going on.

Notes:

1. Notice the comma which comes before the relative pronoun. It looks strange to us but is absolutely essential in German because it marks the boundaries of the clauses. You don't take a breath or make any pause to interrupt the flow of the sentence when you are speaking.

2. You never leave out the relative pronoun in German.

3. The relative pronoun sends the verb in its clause to the end. Here are some more examples:

Wie heiRt der Mann, der gegeniiber von uns wohnt?

Haben Sie noch das Kleid, das ich gestern anprobiert habe?

What's the name of the man who lives across from us?

Have you still got the dress I tried on yesterday?

LEARN BY HEART

Fill in the correct relative pronoun. 1. Das ist die Stadt, in ... ich

gewohnt habe.

2. 1st das der Mantel, ... Sie suchen?

That's the town where (in which) I lived.

Is this the coat (that) you are looking for?

3. Ist das der Brief, ... gestern gekommen ist?

4. Das sind die Leute, mit ... ich nach Paris gefahren bin.

S. Kennen Sie den Mann, mit ... ich gesprochen habe?

Pronouns Relative pronouns/109

Is that the letter which arrived yesterday?

Those are the people I went to Paris with (with whom).

Do you know the man I spoke to (with whom I spoke)?

ANSWERS

1. der 2. den 3. der 4. denen S. dem


Adjectives

,

INTRODUCTION .

Adjectives describe nouns. They make. our language more PICturesque, they fill out bald statements consistmg of nouns and verbs:

The cat sat on the mat.

The large ,fluffy, Persian cat sat on the beautiful red and green mat.

I want a coat. .

I want a short, navy blue coat with red trim. Not too expensive but stylish and attractive.

You can't learn German adjectives in a day - so don't try! But don't give up either. Persevere, and one day you will be able t.o use German adjectives with confidence (and correctly, 90% of the lime - which IS better than many native German speakers).

HOW TO USE

Because adjectives accompany nouns, they are directly affected by:

1. whether the noun is singular or plural;

2. which der/die/das group the noun belongs to; 3 what case the noun is in;

4: whether the noun is accompanied by der/die/das or einlkein/mein

or nothing at all.

Basically there are four different situations affecting adjective endings. This sound~ lik~ a lot to learn, but It does have a certain logic and the important thing IS to recognize the basic patterns.

Situation Type One .

Adjective standing on its own, without a noun or after the verb sem (to be) or werden (to become): schon!

toll!

Das ist schOn!

Die Bluse ist schon, Das Wetter wird schon. Die Kleider sind schon.

lovely! great!

That's lovely!

The blouse is beautiful. The weather's getting nice. The dresses are beauti ful.

Adjectives/l1l

You use the adjective just as it appears in the dictionary, without any endings.

Situation Type Two Der/die/das + adjective + noun:

Nom. der rote Pullover die griine Bluse das blaue Kleid
Acc. den roten Pullover die griine Bluse das blaue Kleid
Dat. dem roten Pullover der griinen Bluse dem blauen Kleid
Gen. des roten Pullovers der griinen B1use des blauen Kleides
Plural
Nom. die weiRen Schuhe
Acc. die weiRen Schuhe
Dat. den weiRen Schuhen
Gen. der weifien Schuhe Here are some common phrases with the accusative in this situation. They are all expressions of time:

Ich war die ganze Woehe krank. Er wartet schon den ganzen Tag. Das Hotel ist des ganze Jahr

geottnet,

I was ill all week.

He's been waiting all day. The hotel is open all year.

The dative is often used to describe where things are, so here are some common examples in this situation:

Auf der reehten Seite 1m zweiten Stock

In der ersten Etage 1m blauen KotTer

In der groRen Halle

On the right hand side On the second floor. On the first floor.

In the blue case.

In the main hall.

Situation Type Three EinlkeinlmeinlIhr + adjective + noun:


Nom. ein guter Rotwein eine warme Mahlzeit ein kaltes Bier
Acc. einen guten eine warme Mahlzeit ein kaltes Bier
Rotwein
Dat. einem guten einer warmen einem kalten
Rotwein Mahlzeit Bier
Gen. einesguten einer warmen eines kalten
Rotweins Mahlzeit Biers
Plural
Nom. keine neuen Kartoffeln
Acc. keine neuen Kartoffeln
Dat. keinen neuen Kartoffeln
Gen. keiner neuen Kartoffeln Try to acquire a 'feel' for the rhythm of these groups and concentrate on learning the nominative and accusative forms. If you can remember einguter Wein (der words) and ein kaltes Bier (das words), you are well on your way to sorting them out. Nearly all the others take -n.

Situation Type Four

Adjective + noun, no der/die/das or ein/keinlmein/lhr. Here the adjective takes on the endings which you would normally put on der/dle/das except in the genitive. The adjective has to take on this job because otherwise you wouldn't know what role the noun was playing in the sentence.

der words die words das words
Nom. guterWein schone Landschaft deutsches Geld
Acc. gutenWein schone Landschaft deutsches Geld
Dat. gutemWein schoner Landschaft deutschem Geld
Gen. gutenWeins schOner Landschaft deutsehen Geldes
Plural
Nom. nette Leute
Acc. nette Leute
Dat. netten Leuten
Gen. netter Leute Adjective~l13 Here are some examples of this use of adjectives that you would find on labels:

reine Baumwolle In brochures: ruhige Lage flieRendes Wasser At the market: frische Eier

And talking to people:

Guten Tag Outen Abend Gute Fahrl GuteReise Guten Appetit Gute Besserung

pure cotton

quiet situation running water

fresh eggs

Hello

Good evening Have a good trip Bon voyage!

En joy your meal Get well soon

This is the sort of thought process you have to go through when using adjectives: You want to say: 'J don't have any German money.'

Geld is

1. singular;

2. a das word;

3. accusative;

4. the situation is type three.

So you say: Ich habe kein deutsches Geld.

You want to say: 'Where are my black shoes?' Schuhe is

1. plural;

2. der/die/das group not relevant;

3. nominative;


So you say: Wo sind meine schwarzen Sehuhe?

You want to say: 'I'd like a good red wine'. Rotwein is

1. singular;

2. a der word;

3. accusative;


So you say: Ich mochte einen guten Rotwein.


You want to say: 'Do you know the old man over there?' Mann is

1. singular;

2. a der word;

3. accusative;

4. the situation is type two.

So you say: Kennen Sie den alten Mann da driiben?

You want to say: 'J hope you have nice weather'. Wetter is

1. singular;

2. a dasword

3. accusative;

4. the situation is type four.

So you say: Ich wiinsche Ihnen schones Wetter.


Go through the steps above then choose the right answer:

Situation Type One (= adjective alone or after sein or werden) You are describing your favorite restaurant:

1. Es ist... It's very cozy.

2. Das Essen ist... The food is good.

3. Die Kellner sind... The waiters are nice.

4. Es... It's not expensive.

5. Das Bier... The beer is cold.

6. Die Weinkarte... The wine list is very good.

gutlkaltlnettlteuer/ganzlgemiitlieh!sehr gut

Situation Type Two (= der/dieJdas + adjective + noun)

You are in a store deciding which clothes you would like to buy:

1. Ieh nehme... I'll take the green pants.

2. Ich nehme... I'll take the white blouse.

3. Ich nehme... I'll take the black jacket.

4. Ieh nehme... I'll take the blue shoes.

5. Ich nehme... I'll take the red dress.

6. Ich nehme... I'll take the gray sweater.

HoselPullover/Kleid/Bluse/Sehuhe/J aeke

den/die/die/die/das/die griine/grauen/rote/blauenlsehwarze/weifie

Adjeetive!i"115 Situation Type Three (= ein/eine etc. + adjective + noun)

You are trying to decide what to order in a restaurant:

1. Ieh mochte.; I'd like a hot soup.

2. Ich moehte... I'd like a Light beer.

3. Ich moehte... I'd like a black coffee.

4. Ich mechte..; I'd like a dry white wine.

einleinenleinen/eine

herbenlhelleslwarme/sehwarzen

KafTee/Bier/WeifiweinlSuppe

Situation Type Four (= adjective + noun)

You have gone to the market and are asking if things are available:

1. Haben Sie... Do you have fresh milk?

2. Haben Sie.. . Do you have German butter?

3. Haben Sie... Do you have new potatoes?

4. Haben Sie... Do you have firm tomatoes?

5. Haben Sie... Do you have inexpensive

lettuce?

6.. Haben Sie... Do you have red apples?

Apfel/Tomaten/SalatlButterlMileh/Kartoffeln frische/neueJbilligenlrote/feste/deutsehe

ANSWERS Situation One

1. ganz gemiitlich 2. gut 3. nett 4. ist nicht teuer 5. ist kalt 6. ist sehr gut

Situation Two

1. die grune Hose 2. die weiBe Bluse 3. die schwarze Jacke

4. die blauen Schuhe 5. das rote Kleid 6. den grauen Pullover Situation Three

1. eine warme Suppe 2. ein helles Bier 3. einen schwarzen Kaffee 4. einen herben WeiBwein

Situation Four

I. frische Milch 2. deutsche Butter 3. neue Kartoffeln 4. feste Tomaten 5. billigen Salat 6. rote Apfel

Adjective Endings at a glance.

X = noun fter sei den 1. Situation Type One = adjective alone or a ter sein or wer ,

No endings. di , +

2 Situation Type Two = der/die/das + a jecuve noun

, der group die group das group plural

X die e X das '" e X dle " , en Xe

Nom der '" e ", d' Xe

ACC' den i.v cn X dic",eX das v.i e X IC."en

, X d en X dem ." cn X den". en Xen

Dat dem ". en er ", X

. X dcr en X des. " en Xes der ." cn e

Gen dcs '" cn cs '" di ti + noun

3. Situation Type Three = ein/keinlmein/lhr etc, + a jec rve


ein i.v er X eine v.i e X ein i.v es X rneine v.i en Xe

Nom. 'X ein es X meine '" en Xe

Acc, cinen en X eme '" e ... meinen . ,en Xcn

Dat einern cn X einer ". en X einem en X ,

Ge~, eines i. en X(e)s einer: .. en X eines en X(c)s memer ". en Xe

4. Situation Type Four = adjective + noun


Nom, .v.er X ... e X es X

... en X ".e X es X emX

... en X(e)s


Acc.

Dal,

... emX ".en X(e)s

.erX

Gen.

.. er X

plural .. .e Xe ... eXe

. .. cn Xen

... erXe

Comparison

HOW TO USE . bi th

hen ou com are things in English you say: 'My house IS Igger a~

";;urs,y'HiS ca(goes faster than ours'; 'Could you speak ,rr:ore slowly. You add '-er' to the adjective if it is short or you put 'more m front if It IS

I and you put 'than' in between the two things you are companng. ong,

Adjectives Comparison/II?

German is very similar but it is simpler because you add -er to all adjectives and adverbs, no matter how long they are. For 'than' you sayals.

Me.in Haus ist groBer als Ihres. Sein Auto fahrt schneller aJs unseres.

Konntsn Sie bitte langsamer sprechen?

My house is bigger than yours. His car is faster than ours.

Could you please speak more slowly?

When you want to compare three or more things in English you say for example:

big, bigger, biggest groft, groBer, grollte

small, smaller, smallest klein, kleiner, kleinste

and as you can see the same thing happens in German: add -er, -(e)ste.

Ich bin der jiingste.

Unser Altester arbeitet bei der Bank .

I am the youngest.

Our oldest son works in the bank.

Some points to remember:

1. Almost all German adjectives and adverbs follow the rules above. But there are some very common adjectives which add an umlaut ("), so make a note of these:

all alter

alteste jiingste kalteste warmste langste kiirzeste

(old, older, Oldest)

(young, younger, youngest) (cold, colder, coldest) (warm/hot, hotter, hottest) (long, longer, longest) (short, shorter, shortest)

jung kalt warm lang kurz

jiinger kiilter warmer langer kiirzer

2. Adverbs have no endings, but many of the comparative words are adjectives and must follow the rules about adjective endings.

For example, you want to say: 'I'll take the bigger dress'.

Here you add first the comparative ending -er to grofi.--+grii8er, then you go through all the steps on page 113.

Kleid is

1. singular;

2. a das word;

3. accusative;

4. the situation is type two.

So you say: Ich nehme das groDere Kleid bitte.


You want to say: 'We're looking ~or a s~aller apartment'. Add the comparative ending: klein-okleiner.

Wohnungis

1. singular;

2. a die word;

3. accusative;

4. the situation type is three.

So you say: Wir suchen eme kleinere Wohnung.

3. We have one or two exceptions in English to the rules. We don't say good, gooder, goodest. Neither do the Germans. Here are the few exceptions: gut, besser, beste viel, mehr, meiste hoch, hoher, hochste

good, better, best

a lot, more, most high, higher, h.ighest

4 To compare two things (as .. as) use so ... wie: . .

Unsere Wohnung ist ungefahr so Our apartment IS about as bIg as

grolJ wie diese. this one. .

Er ist ungefahr so slt wiemeine He's about as old as my sister.

Schwester.

Mein Auto ist nicht so schon wie My car's not as nice as yours.

Ihres.

Adverb~119

Adverbs

INTRODUCTION

Adverbs are words which accompany and describe verbs (here, there, loudly, softly etc.). You can say: 'She drives the car'. If you add an adverb, you can say how/when etc. she drives the car:

'She drives the car Ibadly/well/often/always/sometimes'.

EXPLANATION

To form adverbs in English, you often add '-Iy' to the adjective.

beautiful beautifully

neat neatly

German adverbs have no such distinguishing mark. The adjective and the adverb are usually the same word.

Sie ist sehr schon. She/it is very beautiful.

Das ist sehr schon gemacht. That is beautifully done.

But their use is different. The adjective describes a noun or pronoun, the adverb describes a verb.

You can use adverbs to describe: 1. How things are done.

Langsam (slowly), schnell (quickly), schon (beautifully), fest (firmly), gut (well), schlecht (badly) etc.

2. When things are done.

Oft (often), schon (already), manchmal (sometimes), sofort (immediately), nie (never), heute (today), immer (always) etc.

3. Where things are done.

Hier (here), da driiben (over there), oben (up there), unten (underneath), rechts (to the right),links (to the left) etc.

You can also add comparative endings to adverbs, in the same way as you can to adjectives. Add -er ending for 'more'.

Bitte sprechen Sie lauter. Please speak louder.

Bitte sprechen Sie langsamer. Please speak more slowly.

Use am + -sten ending for 'most'.

Am schonsten ist es hier abends. It's at its most beautiful here in the evenings.

Am besten kommen Sie heute The best thing for you to do is to

nachmittag vorbei, come around this afternoon.


Possessive adjectives

INTRODUCTION

Possessive adjectives (my, your, his etc.) tell you who owns what, who is related to whom, and are very useful for example when talking about your family and friends or reporting lost property etc. Like all adjectives they describe nouns, and their endings are affected by the noun theyaccompany, They follow the same pattern of endings as ein (see p.97).

EXPLANATION

The possessive adjectives are: mein = my

dein = your (familiar singular) sein = his/i ts

ihr = her/its

unser

= our

= your (familiar plural) = their

= your (formal)

euer ihr Ihr

HOW TO USE The endings are:

Nom. no ending -e no ending -e
Acc. -en -e no ending -e
Dat. -em -er -em -en
Gen. -es -er -es -er Notes.

1. seinl(his)/ihr (her)

People who speak languages like Spanish and French, where the words for 'his' and 'her' are exactly the same, get confused with sein (his) and ihr (her). If you find this difficult try the next exercise.

Possessive adjectives/I2l

PRACTICE

You are talking about Manfred and Barbara who are very careless and have lost various items. Look up the following nouns in your dictionary and find out which der/die/das group they belong to. They are all accusative. Then fill In the blanks with a word for 'his' or 'her'. Use each word only once.

Nouns:

FotoapparatIPortemonnaielRasierapparatlKofTer/Fahrkarte his/her: seinen/seinen/seinlihre/ihren/ihre

1. Manfred hat... Rasierapparat verloren.

2. Barbara hat... Handtasche

verloren.

3. Manfred hat verloren.

4. Barbara hat verloren.

5. Manfred hat verloren.

6. Barbara hat. .. verloren.

Manfred has lost his razor.

Barbara has lost her purse.

Manfred has lost his suitcase. Barbara has lost her camera. Manfred has lost his wallet. Barbara has lost her ticket.

2. ihr (her)/ihr (their)/ Ihr (your)

It is often very difficult to distinguish these three meanings when people are speaking because they all sound the same. You really have t~ be alert! If you didn't follow the conversation, don't pretend you did. Ask wessen? (= whose?) and get some clarification as to the person's or people's identity. You will probably be told the person's name and then you will be able to follow the conversation.

LEARN BY HEART

Here are some expressions I hope you won't need! Fill in the correct form of me in.

1. Wo Ist ... Tasehe? Where is my purse?

2. Es tut mir leid, ieh habe... I'm sorry, I've lost my ticket.

Fahrkarte verloren.

3. leh habe ... Portemonnale zu I've left my wallet at home.

Hause vergessen.

4. Ich habe ... Fotoapparat verloren. I've lost my camera.

5 .... Auto ist wegl My car's gone!

6. Ich habe ... Uhr vergessen. I've forgotten my watch.


And some expressions for dealing with officialdom:

1. 1st das Ihr Vorname? Is that your fir t name?

2. Ich habe meinen Pall vergessen. I've forgotten my passport.

3. Wo sind Ihre Papiere? Where are your papers?

4. Ihre Adresse bitte. Your address please.

5. Und lhre Telefonnummer? And your telephone number?


1. seinen 2. ihre 3 seinen Koffer 4. ihren Fotoapparat 5. sein Portemonnaie 6. ihre Fahrkarte

2nd exercise

1. meine 2. meine 3. mein 4. meinen 5. Mein 6. meine

Some and any/123

Some and any

INTRODUCTION

'Some' and 'any' require a bit of careful thought before using them in German.

HOW TO USE Some

L 'Some' as an adjective = manehe + plural noun.

Manehe Leute glauben ... Some people think '"

But leave out the word 'some' entirely when dealing with quantities:

Mochten Sie Brot? Tee? Would you like some bread?/some

tea?

2. 'Some' as a pronoun = welcher/welche/welches. Use the same endings as for der/die/das.

Brauchen Sie Kartoffeln? Nein, ich habe noeh welche. 1m Kiihlschrank sind noch welehe.

Moehten Sie welches?

Do you need potatoes? No, I've still got some.

There are some in the refrigerator.

Would you like some of it? (das word)

Would you like some of it? (der word)

3. Sometimes = manehmal.

Manehmal gibt es Sehweinefleiseh Sometimes there is pork with

mit Pommesfrites. French fries on the menu.

Is someone/anyone there?

Has someone/anyone phoned? Did you meet someone/anyone?

Mochten Sie welchen?

4. Someone/anyone = jemand. 1st da jemand?

Hatjemand angerufen?

Haben Siejemand getroffen?


5. Something = etwas or irgendetwas (shortened forms: 'was, irgend'was) . Suchen Sie etwas Bestimmtes?

Etwas stimmt nieht.

Ich wollte Ihnen etwas sagen.

Are you looking for something in particular?

There's something wrong.

I wanted to tell you something.

6. Somehow = irgendwie.

Er kommt irgendwie nach Hause. He'll get home somehow.

Ich habe irgendwie das Gefiihl ... Somehow l've got a feeling that ...

7. Somewhere = irgendwo. Irgendwo auf dem Land.

Somewhere in the country.

8. Sometime = irgendwann.

There is a difference in emphasis between words beginning with irgend- and the other words for 'some'. Irgend- conveys the idea that you don't know, and possibly don't care, who, what, where etc. Welche, manehe, etwas, jemand etc. are much more definite - you do have a good idea who or what or where you mean.

Any

'Any' has several different uses:

1. When asking whether something is available, 'any' in German.

Haben Sie Brot?

Gibt es hier Toiletten? Haben Sie Kinderschuhe?

leave out the word

Do you have any bread?

Are there any washrooms here? Do you have any children's shoe?

2. With a negative. Use kein, nichts etc. (see p. 71.)

Ieh habe kein Brot. I don't have any bread.

Ich kann mieh an nichts erinnern. I can't remember anything.

3. 'Any' can be vague and indefinite and is very close to 'some'.

Kann ieh irgendwo parken? Is there anywhere (somewhere) I

can park?

Wissen Sie etwas fiber ihn? Do you know anything

(something) about him?

Some and any/125

4. 'Any' can be positive, and mean 'all', 'every' etc.

Erkannjeden Tag kommen. He'll be coming any day now.

Sie kiinnenjederzeit zu uns Come and see us any time you like.

kommen.

anybody/somebody

Is anybody/somebody there? not ... anyone, nobody everybody

Anybody (everybody) can join in.

anywhere/somewhere anywhere/everywhere

You can park anywhere you like.

anything/something (not definite) Oh, just buy anything. (I don't care.)

nothing/not ... anything (see p.

71.)

I didn't buy anything. anything/everything

You can find anything you're looking for here.

You can order anything you like.

anyhow/somehow anyhow/anyway

I wanted to do that anyway.

We're going to the theater anyway. Anyway, J wanted to explain

everything to you.

5. Any time = jederzeit.

6. Anybody jemand

1st da jemand? niemand

jeder

Jeder kann rnitmaehen.

7. Anywhere irgendwo iiberall

Sie kiinnen uberall parken.

8. Anything and everything etwas, irgendetwas

Aeh, kaufen Sie irgendetwas.

niehts

Ieh habe niehts gekauft. alles

Hier kiinnen Sie alles linden.

Sie konnen aUes bestellen.

9. Anyhow irgendwie

auf jeden Fall/sowieso

Das wollte ich sowieso machen. Wir gehen sowieso ins Theater. Auf jeden Fall wollte ieh Ihnen

alles erklaren.


Prepositions

INTRODUCTION

Prepositions are the little words like 'to', 'for', 'with', etc. which we ~se to indicate for example, where, how and when an action IS taking place. Alth~ugh they are very small words, mistakes with prepositi~ns can lead to very big misunderstandmgs, so you should treat them with the respect they deserve. If you can understand the concept behind the preposition you will have an insight into the German person:s way of thinking. Where it is helpful, I have included diagrams to Illustrate these concepts.

EXPLANATION

Most German prepositions can take the prefixes wo- or da-. Wo- means 'what'/'which' and da- means 'it'/'that'. You can use wo- with a preposition to make a question. If the preposition begins with a vowel, you insert an extra -r-. auf

woraut7

darauf

sprechen iiber Woriiber sprechen Sie?

Wir sprachen gerade dariiber.

on

on what? on that/it

to talk about

What are you talking about? We were just talking about that.

Some prepositions are shortened when they. are u~ed with der/die/d.as. For example, an dem is shortened to am; bel dem IS shortened to beim; an das is shortened to ans etc.

There are two problems facing us when dealing with German prepositions:

1. Some are followed by the accusative case (see p. 84) and others by the dative case (see p.88) and others by both - so how do we know which takes which?

2. Very often you cannot translate English prepositions directly into their apparent German counterparts. For example, there are at least six different ways of translating 'to'!

Prepositions/127

1. Prepositions that always take the accusative:

bis durch entlang fiir gegen ohne pro urn

until through along for against without per about/around

2. Prepositions that always take the dative:

ab aus aufler bei gegeniiber mit nach seit von zu

from from except at across from with to/after for/since from to

3. Prepositions that always take the genitive:

aufgrund in der Nahe trotz wiihrend

because of near in spite of during

wegen because of

4. Prepositions that take both the accusative and the dative:

an auf hinter in neben iiber unter vor zwischen

at/ at/on/ behind in/ near over/ under/ before/ between

to to

into

ago

across among

Why do some prepositions take both the accusative and dative? If you take a closer look you will see that all of the prepositions in this group are connected with a place. The Germans say that there are two ways of talking about a place:

I. Movement from one place to another. The action starts in one place and finishes in another place. To express this idea of movement from A to B,

• •

A B

you use verbs of motion, such as kommen, gehen, fliegen (to fly), einsteigen (to get into), stellen (to put) etc. + one of the prepositions in list number 4 + the accusa tive.

2. Position in one place, i.e. no movement. To express this idea of no movement, you use verbs which describe stationary activities, such as sein, liegen, essen, trinken, stehen (to stand) etc. + one of the prepositions in list number 4 + the dative.

Let us look at some examples:

In + accusative = in/into/to Ich fahre in die Stadt. Gehen Sie ins Belt?

Stellen Sie den Wein in den Kiihlschrank.

I'm going into town. Are you going to bed?

Put the wine in the refrigerator.


In + dative = in/inside

Er arbeitet in einer Fabrik. Bleiben Sie im Auto.

Wir essen im Restaurant.

He works in a factory. Stay in the car.

We'll eat in the restaurant.

In + accusative means you are going into a building/space etc. from a starting point outside. In + dative means you are already in the building/space etc. and are staying there.

Warning. We say in English: 'Let's go to the movies/the theater' etc. It's very tempting to say zum Kino/zurn Theater etc. But if you say this your German friends will think that for some reason you are not intending to go into the movie house and see the film or tnto the theater and watch the play. You seem to want to go to the door and then go away again! The German says ins Kino and ins Theater.

An + accusative = to

Wir gehen an den Strand, Gehen Sie nicht ans Fenster!

Ich schreibe einen Brief an rneine

Schwester.

(Yes, a letter also goes from A to B, even though you don't think of schreiben as a verb of movement.)

Bitte haugen Sie das Bild an die Please hang the picture on the wall.

Wand. (on = onto)

We're going to the beach. Don't go to the window!

I'm writing a Jetter to my sister.

An + dative = at/on

Wir haben am Strand gelegen. We lay on the beach.

Wir sa8en noch am Tisch. We were still sitting at the table.

Ich bin am Bahnhof. I'm at the train station.

Der Zeitungskiosk ist an der Ecke. The newspaper stand is on the corner.

REMINDER

For movement from A->B, use accusative.

For stationary position,~, use dative.

Prepositions/129

Auf + accusative = on/onto/to

Stellen Sie die Flasche auf den Put the bottle on the table.

Tisch.

Legen Sie bitte die Zeitung aufs Put the newspaper on the shelf,

Regal. please.

Setzen Sie sich bitte auf den Stuhl. Sit down on the chair, please.

Ich gehe aufeine Party. I'm going to a party.

Ich mu8 auf die Toilette. I have to go to the bathroom.

The book is on my desk.

The eat's on the roof. He's in the bathroom. She's at a conference.

= accusative. = dative.

We're going over the border. Go across the intersection.

Uber + dative = over/above

Die Leselampe ist fiber Ihrem Silz. The reading lamp is above your seat.

Do you get the idea? This basic difference between movement from A to B (accusative) and positionlno movement (dative) applies to all the prepositions in this group.

Auf + dative = on/at

Das Buch liegt auf meinern

Schreibtisch.

Die Katze ist auf dem Dach. Er ist auf der Toilette.

Sie ist auf einer Konferenz.

REMINDER ONCE AGAIN:

Movement from A-.B

Position in one place 0

Uber + accusative = over/across Wir fahren fiber die Grenze. Gehen Sie fiber die Kreuzung.

130jNice 'n Easy German Grammar

LEARN BY HEART

You have rented your home to some Germans. Here are some instructions and information which you have left for them. Flit In the blanks with a preposition and the appropriate form of der, die, das.

1. Der Fernseher ist .

Wohnzimmer Ecke.

2. Die Schliissel fur die Garage

Iiegen Fernseher.

3. Milch und Eier sind ...

Kiihlschrank.

4. Bitte tun Sie den Abfall ... Eimer.

5. Das Fremdenverkehrsamt ist ... ... Taft Street.

The TV is in the living room in the corner.

The keys for the garage are on the TV.

There are milk and eggs in the refrigerator.

Please put trash in the trash can. The tourist office is on Taft Street.

Go across the intersection.

Then turn right onto State Street.

And the supermarket is on the corner.

bei + dative

Warning! bei never, never, never means the English 'by'!

Use bei dem shortened to beim for der/das words, bei der for die words.

1. = 'near'

bei der Tankstelle

Das Hotelliegt ganz nah beim Bahnhof.

near the gas station

The hotel is right next to the station.

ANSWERS 1 st exercise

1. im, in der 2. auf dem 3. im 4. in den 5. in den 6. in der 2nd exercise

1. tiber 2. in die 3. an der

2. = 'during'I'at'

Wir sprechen beim Essen dariiber.

Prepositions/131

We'll talk about that at lunch.

3. = 'given'I'if there is .. .' + weather conditions

Bei Gewitter findet das Konzert If there is a thunderstorm, the

im Auditorium statt. concert will take place in the auditorium.

4. = 'at'l'in'I'at the house of/'at so and so's place' (like French chez). Use bei + where you live, where you work or shop etc., i.e. with the name of the person or company or store and not with a word for a building.

Sie ktinnen bei uns wohnenl You can stay with us .

schlafen.

He's staying with his parents!

his mother-in-Iaw/the Neuraths.

do Schmidt (on letters, also when answering the phone at Schmidt's house. This tells the caller they have the right number and that you are not one of the Schmidts)

He always shops at Horten (= name of store).

He works at BASF/Mercedes etc.

at the hairdresser's.

Notice you can't say: 'Ich bin beim Supermarkt or name of any building. With a building you must use in. You say: Ich kaufe bei Safeway ein (name of company) but: Ich kaufe im Supermarkt ein (building). This is a point which English-speaking people often make mistakes with.

seit + dative = 'since'/'for'

Seit answers the question Wie lange? (how long?).

Be very careful when using seit. You use the German present tense to express English 'have been doing' and the imperfect tense to express 'had been doing'. English-speaking people find this difficult to grasp, but if you look at it from the German point of view it makes sense: they argue that you are/were still doing the action, so the verb should be present or imperfect.

Er wohnt bei seinen Elternlbei seiner Schwiegermutterlbei Neuraths.

beiSchmidt

Er kaurt immer bei Horten ein.

Now explain to a German visitor how to get to the nearest supermarket:

1. Fahren Sie ... die Kreuzung.

2. Dann biegen Sie nach rechts ...... State Street.

3. Und der Supermarkt ist .

Ecke.

Er arbeitet bei BASF/bei Mercedes etc.

beim Friseur.


1. = 'for' + length of time

Ich warte schon seit einer hal ben Stunde.

Er wohnt seit drei Jahren in Duisburg.

Er wohnte seit einem Jahr im Haus.

I've been waiting for half an hour. He's been living in Duisburg for three years.

He had been living in the house for a year.

2. = 'since' + specific point in time .

Seit meiner Riiekkehr bin ich sehr I've been very busy smce my

beschiiftigt. return.

Er wartet schon seit elf Uhr. He's been waiting since t 1 o'clock.

lch bin seit gestern wieder hier. I've been back since yesterday.

ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS

Some English prepositions can be translated directly into Ge.rman and their use is quite straightforward. Other English prepositions have several different translations in German. The most complicated ones are discussed here in greater detail.

At

1. Saying where you are/live etc.

There is no one word for 'at' in German. Look at these examples:

Ich wohne Friedriehstra8e 19. I live at 19 FriedrichstraBe.

leh bin beim Zahnarzt. I'm at the dentist's office.

Ich bin im Hotel. I'm at the hotel.

Ich bin am Flughafen. I'm at the airport.

Ich bin zu Hause. I'm at home.

Ich bin aufeiner Party. I'm at a party.

Six different ways of saying 'at', all of them meaning 'at a place'! A German person has a very clear picture in his mind as to which word for 'at' is right in each situation. He sees a lot of difference betw~en 'at the airport' and 'at the dentist's office'. In order to appreciate this we have to look a little more closely and try to envisage how the German person thinks in this situation. Sometimes it's very difficult for foreigners to understand, so 1 have listed the most common expressions you are likely to need. If you don't see the .logic behind them, forget about any explanation and learn the expressions by heart because you will need them.

Prepositions/133

1. Ich wohne Friedrichstra8e 19.

When you give an address, you don't use any word for 'at'.

2. bei = at a person's place/on someone's premises. Bei is always followed by the dative, and you use it with a person or the name of a store or company. You never use bei with a word for a building.

Ich bin beim Friseur. I'm at the hairdresser's.

Wir schlafen bei meinem Freund. We are staying at my friend's place.

Ich binjetzt bei Horten. I'm at Horten just now (name of

store).

3. in + dative = inside a spacelbuilding etc. It is used with verbs of position. Ich bin im Restaurant.

I'm at the restaurant at the theater

im Theater imKino imHotel

im Krankenhaus

Wir sind in der Buchhandlung. Wir treffen uns in der

Fotoabteilung. in derOper

at the movies at the hotel

at the hospital

We're at the bookstore

We'll meet in the photography department

at the opera

4. An + dative = at a place, usually referring more to being very near the building or space rather than being right inside. It is used with verbs of position. Die Kinder spielen am Strand.

Ich bin jetzt am Flughafen. am Bahnhof

am Fenster

Ich warte an der Rezeption. Er ist an der Theke.

An der Kreuzung fahren Sie nach rechts.

an der Ampel

The children are playing at the

beach.

I'm at the airport now. at the train station

at the window

I'm waiting at the reception desk. He's at the counterlbar.

At the intersection, turn to the right.

at the traffic light

5. ZuHause

This is a special expression which you just have to learn. It doesn't belong to any group.

Wir sindjetzt zu Hause. We're at home now.


6. auf + dative

This is used with a small number of nouns. The best thing is to learn them by heart because there is no real explanation for why this particular group of nouns takes auf.

auf einer Konferenz at a conference

auf der Messe at the trade fair

auf der Toilette in the bathroom

auf einer Party at a party

aufder Bank at the bank

auf der Post at the Post Office

In addition to all these ways of saying 'at a place', there are some other ways of saying 'at':

7. vor + dative = in front of. Das Auto steht vor der Tur,

The car's at the door.

8. For 'at' + expressions of time use urn:

urn Viertel vor acht at a quarter to eight

urn Mitternacht at midnight

urn sechszehn Uhr dreiRig at 16:30 (4:30 p.m.)

By

Never translate 'by' with the German word bei.

1. von = action done by someone. Use the dative after von.

Das Buch wurde von Agatha The book was written by Agatha

Christie geschrieben. Christie.

2. mit + dative = 'by' + means of transportation. Wir sind mit dem Zug gekommen. We came by train.

mit dem Auto by car

mit dem Bus by bus

mit der U-Bahn by subway

3. For 'by' + time reference use um, vor, bis:

Wir mussen bis zwanzig Uhr We must be back by 8 p.m.

zuriick sein.

Wir wollen urn vier Uhr in der Stadt sein.

Das miissen wir vor morgen fertig haben.

We want to be in town by four o'clock.

We have to have it ready by tomorrow.

Prepositions/135

4. mit + dative

Kann ich mit Scheck bezahlen? Das ist mit der Hand geschrieben. Das schicke ich mit der niichsten

Post.

Can I pay by check? It's written by hand.

I'll send it by the next mail.

5. aus

aus Versehen

by mistake

Near

There is ~o sin~le translation of our preposition 'near'. The best way to tra?slate near IS to use one of the following expressions:

1 .. m der Nii~e von + dative = in the vicinity of/ near:

Wlr wohnen m der Niihe vom We are staying near the train

8ahnhof. station.

Das Hotelliegt in der Niihe vom The hotel is near the airport.

Flughafen.

You can also use in der Niihe with the genitive:

Wir wohnen in der Niihe der We are staying near Clark Street.

Clark Street.

Notice the use of der with the street name.

2. nicht weit von + dative = not far from. Wir wohnen nicht weit von der Stadtmitte.

Das ist nieht weit von meinem Hotel.

We are staying near the center of town.

That's near my hotel.

3. neben + dative/accusative = near/next to.

Neben can ~nly be used with places which are very close to each other. ~se the dative when describing position and the accusative when there IS movement towards one of the places.

Die Toiletten sind neben der The rest rooms are next to the

Trepp~. . stairway.

Stellen Sie bitte den Koffer neben Please put the suitcase next to the

den Wagen. car.

4. bei + dative = near/at/around.

8ei. der Tankstelle biegen Sie naeh Near the gas station, make a left

hnks. turn.

Ich wohne beim Flughafen. I live near the airport.


To

1. Saying where you are going to.

There is no one word for 'to' in German. Look at these examples:

Wir fahren morgen nach Berlin. We're going to Berlin tomorrow.

Ich gehe jetzt ins Buro, I'm going to the office now.

Fahren Sie zum Flughafen? Are you going to the airport?

Wollen wir an den Strand gehen? Shall we go to the beach? Wir sind auf eine Party We're invited to a party.

eingeladen.

Five different ways of saying 'to', all of them meaning movement towards a place!

A German person has a very clear picture in his mind about which word for 'to' is right in each situation. He sees a lot of difference between 'to the office' and 'to the airport'.

1. nach + name of a city or country = to.

Don't use nacb with countries which begin with the definite article (der/die/das) - use in + accusative for them (see point no. 2).

Wann fabren Sie nach Schweden? When are you going to Sweden?

Icb fahre iibermorgen nach I'm going to Denver the day after

Denver. tomorrow.

nach Chicago, nach Seattle, nach Bonn, nach Deutschland etc.

2. in + accusative.

Use this when 'to' really means 'into'. You are going into a different building/space etc. It is also used for the few countries which begin with der/die/das:

Wir fahren in die Schweizlin die Tiirkeilin die Bundesrepublikl indieDDRI.

Geben wir ins Kino/ins Konzert/ins Hotel/ins Theater/ins Freibad.

Icb gebe jetzt ins Bett. Fabren Sie in die Stadt?

We're going to Switzerland/ Turkey/The Federal Republic of Germany/The German Democratic Republic/,

Let's go to the movies/to the concert/to the hotel/to the theater/to the swimming pool.

I'm going to bed now. Are you going into town?

Prepositions/137

3. zu + dative

Zu_focuses more on traveling to your destination than the actual going inside. If you say Ich fahre zum Flughafen, you mean you are driving to the al~port and you might go into the building as well. If you say Ich fahre ID den Flughafen, you mean you are driving your vehicle right into the airport building (which might have disastrous results!).

Zum Flu~hafen bilte! To the airport, please! (Taxi)

Fahren Sle zum Bahnhof? Are you going to the train station?

Fahrt dieser Bus zum Zoolzum Does this bus go to the zoo/the

Theater/zurn Hallenbad/? theater/the indoor swimming pool!?

How far is it to the next bus stop?

Wie weit ist es zur nachsten Haltestelle?

Gehen Sie bitte zum Schalter drei/ Please go to counter number three/

zur Kasse. to the cash register.

Ich gehejetzt zorn Backer/zu I'm going to the bakery now/to

Hertie, Hertie (name of store).

Ic~ gehejetzt zu mein~m Freund. I'm going to my boyfriend's place. Wle welt tst es zur Schlllerstra8e? How far is it to SchillerstraBe? Notice that in German you use die etc. with street names.

4. an + accusative.

~n. implies going very nea~ a building/space etc. rather than going right inside It. Whe~ you say Wlr fabren ans Meer, you mean 'we're going to the seashore' (i.e. the edge of the sea) rather than plunging into the sea in your car.

Kommen Sie bitte ans Fenster. Der Kellner kommt an Ihren

Tisch.

Wollen wir an den Strand heute? Shall we go to the beach today?

Wir fabren ans Meer. We're going to the seashore.

Come to the window, please. The waiter comes to your table.

5. auf + accusative.

This is used with a small number of nouns. The best thing is to learn them by heart because there is no real explanation as to why this particular group of nouns takes auf.

Ich gehe auf eine Konferenz. I'm going to a conference.

leh gehe auf die Messe/auf die I'm going to the trade fair/to the

Bank/auf die Post/auf die banklto the Post Office/to the

Toilette/aufs KIo. washroomlto the john.

Ich gehe aufeine Party. I'm going to a party.


In addition to these various ways of saying 'to a place', there are some more expressions with 'to':

6. Vor + time

zehn Minuten vor acht viertel vor neun

7. von ... bis = from ... to. Das Museum ist von zehn bis fiinfzehn Uhr getiffnet

ten minutes to eight a quarter to nine

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Numbers/139

Numbers

INTRODUCTION

Numbers are quite easy to handle as long as you can see them written down, but unfortunately for much of the time you will find yourself having to understand and give numbers in conversation. Think of all the information you hear which contains numbers - times, prices, sizes, dates, addresses, quantities and so on. If you don't have a thorough knowledge of spoken numbers you could end up paying DM15 instead of DM5 or missing the train because it left at 6:30 not 7:30. The possibilities are endless!

You will also need numbers when grving or asking for personal information such as birthdays, telephone numbers, addresses etc.

Since numbers perform such a key role in so many situations, it's worth taking the time to learn and practice them aloud for yourself.

HOW TO USE

The German number system is similar toour own and is very logical, so try to see the parallels which exist between English and German- they will help you to learn.

There are two kinds of numbers:

1. Cardinal numbers, e.g. one, two, three etc. They describe quantity, how many.

2. Ordinal numbers, e.g. first, second, third etc. They describe the order of things in a system.

Cardinal Numbers

0-19 (null bis neunzehn)
0 null 7 sieben
1 eins 8 acht
2 zwei 9 neun
3 drel 10 zehn
4 vier 11 elf
5 funf 12 zwtilf
6 sechs 13 dreizehn 140/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar

14 vierzehn

15 fiinfzehn

16 sechszehn

17 siebzehn

18 achtzehn

19 neunzehn

From 0-19 the German numbers are parallel to English. From 13-19 (dreizehn bis neunzehn) the -zehn ending is the same as our -teen ending in 'thirteen' etc. Be sure to say the -zehn ending very clearly, so you don't get neunzehn (19) confused with neunzig (90). Most people learning German mumble because they're not quite sure, but this is a case where mumbling can get you into trouble. Here it's essential to be absolutely sure. If you're not sure, write down the number and show it to the other person.

20-99 20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

(zwanzig bis neunundneunzig)

zwanzig 40

einundzwanzig 41

zweiundzwanzig 50

dreiundzwanzig 51

vierundzwanzig 60

fiinfundzwanzig 61

sechsundzwanzig 70

siebenundzwanzig 71

achtundzwanzig 80

neunundzwanzig 81

drei8ig 90

einunddrei6ig 99

vierzig einundvierzig fiinfzig einundfiinfzig sechszig einundsechszig siebzig einundsiebzig achtzig einundachtzig neunzig neunundneunzig

From 20-99 there are three points to notice:

1. Sieben gets slightly shortened in siebzehnlsiebzig.

2. Our -ty ending in forty etc. is matched by the German -zig in vierzig etc. (but note: dreifiig). Make sure you say the -zig/Big ending clearly.

3. Instead of saying twenty-one, Germans say one-and-twenty. Think of 'four and twenty blackbirds' and you'll be on the right track.

Warning! Numbers need a lot of practice, especially writing down numbers spoken aloud. Some people find it helps to write down numbers between 20 and 99 [rom right to left because this is the order in which the Germans say them.

Numbers/141

PRACTICE

Write down the following numbers as numerals:

1. Neununddreiflig 5. einundzwanzig

2. dreiundvierzig 6. fiinfzehn

3. fiinfundfiinfzig 7. vierundfiinfzig

4. fiinfundvierzig 8. sechsundsiebzig

HOW TO USE Over 100 100 101 102 103 120 136 147 179 200 265 300 400 500 600 700 1,000 1,100 2,000 5,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000

hundert

hunderteins

hundertzwei

hundertdrei hundertzwanzig hundertsechsunddreiBig hundertsiebenundvierzig hundertneunundsiebzig zweihundert zweihundertfiinfundsechszig dreihundert

vierhundert

fiinfhundert

sechshundert

siebenhundert

tausend

tausendeinhundert zweitausend

fiinftausend

zehntausend

hunderttausend

eine Million

Although these words look long, this is only because all the numbers arewntt~n together. 121 is just as much of a mouthful to sayin English as It IS m ,German. While in ,English we say 'one hundred and twenty-one, the Germans say one hundred one and twenty" ei _ ~underteinundzwanzig. The 'and' is in a different place but it t ~n Just as long to say. ' I a es

ANSWERS 1.39;2.43;3.55;4.45;5.21;6.15;7.54;8.76

142/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar Some useful abbreviations with numbers:

Mio. = Million

Mrd. = Milliarde (1 billion) Nr. = Nummer

ca. = circalzirka (approx.)

Some words which often accompany numbers: . , ungefahr, rund, zirka (ca.) all mean 'about, approximately.

uber more than

. I less than, fewer than

wemgera s . d

k Just un er

knapp hundert Gramm just under 100 grams (98 or so)

k:::: seehszig Leute just under 60 people (58 or 59)

English decimal points are replaced by com~as in German:

5 2 fiinf komma zwei 0:4 null komma vier

0,18 null komma eins acht

Percent = Prozent .

6,2% sechs komma zwei Prozent 8,9% aeht komma neun Prozent

The comma used in English to represent thousands is replaced in German by a space:

to 000 zehntausend .. .

21 456 einundzwanzigtausendvierhundertseehsundfunfzlg

Fractions

die Halffe half

ein Drittel a third

ein Viertel a quarter

ein Funftel a fifth

ein Seehstel a sixth etc. . ..

Note: These are all das words except for die Halfte.

anderthalb zweieinhalb dreieinhalb viereinhalb

one and a half

two and a half three and a half four and a half etc.

Numbers/143

Once, twice, three times etc.

einmal once

zweimal twice

dreimal three times

viermal four times

hundertmal a hundred times

x-mal }

. I hundreds (lots) of times

-zigma

Ich habe ihm -zigmal gesagt, er I've told him time and time again to

sollte das Rauchen aufgeben. give up smoking.

PRACTICE

Here is Frau Lange telling you about herself. Write in all the numbers in the English translation.

1. leh bin aehtundvierzig Jahre alt. I am ... years old.

2. Meine Telefonnummer ist My telephone number is ...
seehszig, neunzehn,
neunundzwanzig.
3. Ich wohne HardenbergstraBe I live at '" HardenbergstraBe.
dreiundvierzig.
4. leh habe zwei Sohne und eine I have ... sons and a daughter.
Tochter.
5. Michael ist achtzehn Jahre alt Michael is ... and Gunther is ...
und Gunther ist years old.
einundzwanzig.
6. Meine Tochter Anna ist My daughter Anna is ... years old.
vierundzwanzig Jahre alt.
7. Ich trage KleidergroBe vierzig I take size ... in clothes and shoe
und SchuhgroBe size '"
neununddreillig.
8. leh wiege dreiundfiinfzig Kilo I weigh ... kilos and am ... tall.
und bin ein Meter sechszig
groB.
9. leh verdiene zweitausend I earn ... Marks a month.
dreihundert Mark im Monat. Now try to give the same information about yourself and your family.

ANSWERS

1. 48; 2. 60 1929; 3. 43; 4.2; 5. 18,21; 6. 24; 7.40,39; 8.53,1 meter 60 ems; 9.2,300.


Ordinal Numbers

INTRODUCTION .. .

You can expect to use or hear ordinal numbers with dates, dlr~Ct10ns (floors or stories in a building, which street,. room etc.),. asking for tickets (Ist, 2nd class), on a guided tour (which king, which century etc.) and so on.

EXPLANATION . .

It is important to remember that ordinal numbers are adjectives and follow the rules governing adjective endl~gs (see p. 110). So you must know whether the noun they accompany IS:

1. singular/plural;

2. der/die/das; ..

3. nominative/accusative/dative/gemllve;

4. situation type 11213/4. . .. ..

You will usually find ordinal numbers in situation type 2 (with der/die/

das).

HOW TO USE .

Most ordinal numbers are formed quite simply from the cardinal numbers (see p. 139). The rule is: for numbers from 1-:-19 add -te to the cardinal number; from 20 upward add -ste to the cardinal number.

However, there are one or two exceptions. Just as in English, one does not become aneth, so in German you have: .

erste first zweite second dritte third

Numbers involving sieben are shortened: sieb + ending.

1st erste
2nd zweite
3rd dritte
4th vierte
5th fiinfte
6th sechste
7th siebte
8th achte
9th neunte
10th zehnte 11th 12th 13th 14th 20th 21st 22nd 30th 99th 100th

elfte

zwiilfte

dreizehnte vierzehnte zwanzigste einundzwanzigste zweiundzwanzigste dreiBigste neunundneunzigste hundertste

Numbers/145

LEARN BY HEART

Here are some examples you will see, hear or use yourself. (In a guided tour) written form

Heinrich VIII.

Das Schlo8 wurde von Ludwig II erbaut.

Your room is on the fifth floor.

spoken form English

Heinrich der Achte. Henry the Eighth.

Das Schlo8 wurde von The castle was built

Ludwig dem Zweiten by Ludwig the

erbaut. Second.

(In a hotel or store)

Ihr Zimmer ist im S. Ihr Zimmer ist im

Stock! in der S. Etage. fiinften Stock! in der fiinften Etage.

Die Schuhabteilung ist Die Schuhabteilung ist

im 3. Stock. 1m dritten Stock.

(Tickets)

Einmal 2. Klasse bitte, Einmal zweite Klasse bltte.

The shoe department is on the third floor.

One second class ticket please.

(Dates)

Wir kommen vom 28. April-IS Mai.

Wir kommen vom achtundzwanzigsten April bis zum fiinfzehnten Mai.

We're coming from the 28th of April to the 15th of May.

No~ice that when you write the s~ort form 1. Stock etc. you must put a period after the number. There IS no short ending to correspond with our lSI, 2nd etc.


Dates

EXPLANATION

There are four things you need to know before you can say or understand dates in German:

1. days of the week (see p.151);

2. months (see p.152);

3. ordinal numbers (see p.l44);

4. years.

HOW TO USE

1. To say today's date, use sein (to be) + der + -e ending. When using ordinal numbers, remember that they are adjectives and take endings. If you want to say: 'Today's the 15th of June', the date is nominative after the verb sein (see p.82). So you say: Heute ist derfiinfzehnteJuni.

2. For dates in letters, with signatures etc. use den + -en ending (= accusative). There are several ways of writing the date but they are all spoken the same way:

written: den 27. April 1982

den 27.04.82

spoken: den siebenundzwanzigsten April neunzehnhundertzweiund-

achtzig.

Sometimes instead of April you will also hear vierten (= 4th month): den siebenundzwanzigsten vierten. There is no word for of as in 'the fifth ofJune'. Remember always to put a period after the number.

3. The way to say on a certain date is am + -en ending (=dative).

am zweiten Januar on the second of January

am sechsten Mai on the sixth of May

The way to say from one date 10 another is vom + -en ending, bis zum + -en ending. Ich mochte ein Zimmer vom

zehnten August bis zum ersten September.

Ich bin vom vierten siebten bis zum zwanzigsten siebten im Urlaub.

I'd like a room from the 10th of August to the 1st of September.

I'm on vacation from the 4th to the 20th of July.

Dates/147

4. Years

1926 = neunzehnhundertsechsundzwanzig 1~55 =. neunzehnhundertfiinfundfiinfzig

~i~dl~l.te easy. Spltt the year into two parts and say hundert in the

Impor~~nt: when talking a?out years in dates, don't add in. In En lish we say. I was born In 1953 . In German it is: Ich bin 1953 geboren~


~nodw ~~~~~e i~o~~l ~~~~ i~~O:;;~~; :i~~:~I;r:.s~~eU:i;~~ays, months

vacation; when you started learning German etc, re gomg on


Time

INTRODUCTION

Time is one area where you can't get away with bluffing. You have to make sure you have understood exactly what the other person has said, so if you are in any doubt ask them to repeat it, write it down, or even say it in English:

K" t S' {WiederhOlen? C ld {repeat that?

onn en re f h iben? ou you ite it d ?

das bitte au se re~ en. please wn e I own.

auf Enghseh sagen? say It in English?

And if you still don't understand, say so!

Es tut mir leid, ich verstehe nieht. Sorry, I don't understand.

HOW TO USE

You need to be able to use and understand:

1. The everyday expressions of time used in conversation.

Question: Wie spat ist es? } Wh t t' . 't?

Wieviel Uhr ist es? a irne IS I .

Answer: Es ist... It's ...

Uhr = o'clock Zehn Uhr Acht Uhr

10 o'clock 8 o'clock

Viertel vor = a quarter to

Viertel vor eins A quarter to one

Viertel naeh = a quarter after

Viertel naeh sieben A quarter after seven

Notice that Viertel has a capital letter because it is a noun.

halb = half. Warning! halb needs special attention. Always stop and think when someone says halb:

Esisthalbe/f. Itishalfpastten. 10:30 Germans say it is 'halfway towards eleven o'clock', while in English we think of it as being half way after ten o'clock. We are both correct, but express the idea differently.

Other times

Vor = before naeh = after past

~ ~st zwan~ig Minuten vor neu~. It is twenty to nine

s 1St elf Mmuten vor zehn I t is el . .

EEs ~st zeh~ Minuten naeh a~ht. It is te~v:f~e~~~gU~~S to ten.

s 1St dreizehn Minuten na h d . I" .

c rei. t IS thirteen minutes after three.

~Uhr

~ ~

{ \,

Viertel ~

~ uv;."~

"0 i$'

"" ~'Ii

~aJ?

Question: Urn wieviel Uhr? }

Wann?

Answer: Urn + time

urn zwanzig vor zehn urn halb seehs

Here are some more examples' Es ist halb neun. . Es ist halb zwei.

Now you try:

1. Es ist halb eins.

2. Es ist halb elf.

3. Es ist halb aeht.

4. Es ist halb zwolf.

Time!149

It is half past eight. It is half past one.

8:30 1:30

urn Viertel nach zwolf

....................................................

................... ,

....................

................................

...................

..........................

When?

at ...

at twenty to ten at half past five

at a quarter after twelve

ANSWERS

1. 12.30 2. 10.30 3.7.30 4. 11.30


PRACTICE

Fill in the time:

1. Ich komme urn zwanzig vor acht.

2. Ich komme um halb zehn.

3. Ich komme um zehn nach sieben.

4. Ich komme um Viertel vor zwei.

5. Ich komme um halb eins.

6. Ich komme um neun Minuten vor elf.

I'll be there at .

I'll be there at .

I'll be there at .

I'll be there at .

['11 be there at .

I'll be there at .

If you use this system it is sometimes not clear whether acht Uhr means 8 o'clock in the morning or in the evening. In this case you will need to use the '24-hour clock', which is used in stations and airports, and timetables. (The 'speaking-clock' is used for opening and closing times, performances, etc.).

24-hour clock

zwanzig Uhr

neunUhr

siebzehn Uhr zehn

neunzehn Uhr dreifiig vierzehn Uhr fiinfundvierzig vierzehn Uhr fiinfzig sechszehn Uhr fiinfundzwanzig

written 20.00 Uhr

9.00 Uhr 17.10 Uhr 19.30Uhr 14.45 Uhr 14.50 Uhr 16.25 Uhr

English 8:00p.m. 9:00a.m. 5:10 p.m. 7:30p.m. 2:45p.m. 2:50p.m. 4:25 p.m.

Now cover up the spoken forms and practice saying the time aloud.

Today, tomorrow, yesterday

If today (heute) is the 25th of January, the 24th was gestern and the 26th is morgen.

Jan 23. vorgestern

Jan 24. gestern

Jan 25. heute

Jan 26. morgen

Jan 27. iibermorgen

the day before yesterday yesterday

today

tomorrow

the day after tomorrow

ANSWERS

1. twenty to eight 2. half past nine 3. ten after seven 4. a quarter to two 5. half past twelve 6. nine minutes to eleven

Time/lSI You can combine these expressions with the parts of the day to specify limes:

morgen abend heute morgen gestern nachmittag vorgestern abend heute mittag

tomorrow evening this morning yesterday afternoon

the evening before yesterday today at lunchtime

Although morgen means both 'tomorrow' and 'morning', it is nearly always clear ~hlCh IS meant. You never say morgen morgen. 'Tomorrow morning IS expressed by the phrase morgen friih.

PRACTICE

Someone is suggesting times when you could meet. Write down the English equivalent.

I. morgen friih um acht Uhr

2. morgen nachmittag um Viertel nach zwei

3. iibermorgen um zwanzig Uhr fiinfundvierzig

4. heute abend um halb sieben

5. morgen abend um zwanzig vor zehn

6. heute nachmiUag um drei

Days of the week

The difficult ones to remember are Dienstag and Donnerstag so gi

them some extra attention. ' rve

Day Abbreviation English
Sonntag So. Sunday
Montag Mo.
Dienstag Di. Monday
Mittwoch Mi. Tuesday
Donnerstag Do. Wednesday
Freitag Fr. Thursday
Samstag } Friday
(Sonnabend) Sa. Saturday ANSWERS

1. 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning 2.2: IS tomorrow afternoon 3.8:45 p.m. the day after .tomorrow 4. half past six this evening 5. 9:40 p.m. tomorrowevenmg 6.3:00 p.m. this afternoon


~~:!~,S Februar, Marz, April, Mai, Juni, Juli, August, September, Oktober, November, Dezember.

Sometimes, especially on the phone, it is not cle~r ~hethe~ somheon~ has said Juni or Juli, so you pronou~ce, the~: Juni (yoonee to r ym with 'see'), Juli ('yooly' to rhyme with sky).

im Juni In June

Wordbuilding/153

Wordbuilding

INTRODUCTION

If you like playing with words or you want to have a clearer insight into the system behind German word formation, it is worth spending some time reading this section. It will help you:

1. To decode the seemingly endless long words in German. If you regard these as a challenge, you will really enjoy breaking them down and figuring out their meaning. You will discover that you have unlocked a very powerful door.

2. To make up your own German words. You'll never be stuck for words again! Try taking an English word, add a suitable prefix or ending, and make it sound German. More often than not, people will understand you. They may even marvel at your sophisticated vocabulary!

EXPLANATION

The first group of words we look at are nouns. 1. You can put two nouns together:

Zehnmarkschein a ten Mark note

Gepackannahme luggage registration/baggage room

Wetterbericht weather report

Studentenausweis student ID card

In English we put two nouns together as well, but we still write them as separate words. The only difference with German is that the words are all written together in one word. If you write two nouns together in German, the last noun determines which der/die/das group the whole word belongs to: Stadtzentrum = die Stadt + das Zentrum, so das Stadtzentrum.

So, be bold! If you find yourself writing Winter Sport in German, _ write them as one word! Wintersport. It looks so much more German.

2. You can connect a verb and a noun:

Wartezimmer Kochtopf

waiting room cooking pot


3. You can connect an adjective and a ~oun:

Gro8stadt big town

Rotwein red wm~

Wemwein white wme

4. There are all sorts of prefixes you can tack onto the beginning of nouns. Here are some of the most useful:

Haupt- (= main) Hauptba_hnhof

Hauptsaison Haupteingang Nebenstra8e Nebensaison Sonderangebot Sonderfahrt Lieblingskuchen Lieblingsfarbe Lieblingsessen

Au8en- (= outside) Au8enpolitik

AuRentemperatur Au8enminister Innenpolitik Innenraum

Innenminister

Neben- (= less important) Souder- (= special)

Lieblings-

(= favorite)

Innen- (= inside)

Nord- (= North) Siid- (= South)

West- (= West) Ost- (= East) Gesamt- (= total)

Hochst-

(= maximum)

Mindest-

(= minimum)

Norddeutschland Siidwestengland

Gesamtbetrag Gesamtzahl Gesamtpreis Hochstpreis Hiichstgeschwin-

digkeit Hiichsttemperatur

Mindestpreis Mindestalter

main train station high season

main entrance side street

low season

special offer

specia I trip

favorite cake favorite color favorite food foreign policy temperature outside Foreign Minister domestic policy inside space Minister for Home

Affairs

North Germany Southwest England

etc.

total amount total number total price maximum price maximum speed

limit maximum temperature lowest price minimum age

Wordbuilding!155

Not- (= emergency) Notstand

Notfall Notarzt Fernseher Fernsprecher Ferngesprach

state of emergency emergency case emergency doctor television telephone

long distance call

Fern- (= long distance)

You will have noticed that German seems to specialize in very long words like: Lebensmittelabteilung, Geschirrspiibnaschine, Friihstiicksteller, Anmeldeformular etc. This all looks very intimidating at first, but once you know the simple rules it becomes much clearer.

Next time you see a long word, remember that it can be broken down into smaller units. Take Lebensmittelabteilung. Abteilung = department, Leben = life, Mittel = means. So it's the 'department for the means of life', which is the grocery department. GeschirrspiiJmaschine. Geschirr = crockery, spillen = to wash, rinse, Maschine = machine. So it's a dishwasher.

Friihstiicksteller. Teller = plate, friih = early, Shick = bit, piece, Friistiick = breakfast. So it's a breakfast plate.

AnmeldeformuJar. Anmelden = to register, Formular = a form. So it's a registration form.

Here are a few more for you to try.

1. Staubsauger 4. Fernsehapparat 6. Rasierklinge

2. Mittagessen 5. Autobahngaststatle

3. Zimmervermittlung

So you see it can be fun! Next time you see a long German word, don't cringe. Regard it as a challenge and see if you can crack the code. And remember - you can have a try at making your own long words too.

Adjectives can also be put together:

heUblau light blue

dunkelrot dark red

schwarzwei8 black and white (photos etc.)

ANSWERS

1. vacuum cleaner 2. lunch 3. hotel reservations office 4. television 5. restaurant on a superhighway 6. razor blade


Verbs

Here are some very common prefixes for verbs:

ababmachen abnehmen aufaufsteigen aufstellen aufaufmachen aufdrehen aufschlie8en ausausgehen aussteigen durch-

durchgehen, durchfahren ein-

einlaufen

einwerfen

einsteigen

her-

herbringen herholen hin-

hinlaufen hinlegen hinhangen mitmitfahren mitnehmen vorbei-

vorbeigehen, vorbeifahren weg-

wegwerfen

weggehen

welter-

= away undo

take away, lose weight = up

climb up

put up, (e.g. tent etc.) = open

to open

to unscrew to open

= movement out to go out

to get out of vehicle = through

to go through = movement in to shrink

to mail (literally 'throw in') to get in (vehicle)

= towards the speaker and away

from somewhere else to bring over here

to bring from somewhere else etc. = away from you and towards

something else

to go towards something

to put something down over there to hang something up over there = with

to get a ride

to take away with you etc. = past

to go past = away

to throwaway to go away

= farther on - direction

baker politician

man from America man from Berlin etc.

-chen and -Iein for a small version of something:

Brot bread

Brotchen bread roll

Paket package pack

Pakchen small pa~kage

Buch book

Biichlein booklet

weitergehen, weiterfahren welter-

weitermachen

wieder-

wiedersehen

wiederholen

wiederhoren

wieder-

wiederkommen wiedergeben

zuriick-

zuriickfahren zuriickkommen zuriickrufen

zu-

zumachen

zudrehen

Wordbuilding/157

to keep going

= continue doing something to continue doing

= again

to see again to repeat

to hear again = back

to come back to give back = back

to go back

to come back

to call back (phone etc.) = closed

to close

to screw shut

Word endings

1. Nouns

-in for female jobs, nationality:

Reiseleiterin Studentin Englatiderin

female tour guide female student lady from England

-er for male jobs, nationality:

Backer Politiker Amerikaner Berliner

158/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar -ei for stores, places of work, etc. Backerei Metzgerei Molkerei

(added to an adjective) -heit:

Sicherheit SchOnheit

(added to an adjective) -keit:

Moglichkeit

(added to an adjective) -igkeit:

Miidigkeit Arbeitslosigkeit Geschwindigkeit

(derived from a verb) -ung:

Mitteilung Anmeldung Rechnung Storung

2. Adjectives

Noun + -lich: freundlich wissenschaftlich jahrlich

bakery butcher shop dairy

safety beauty

possibility

fatigue unemployment speed

message reception desk bill

fault, disturbance

friendly scientific annual

Noun + -ig (similar to '-y' in English):

. salty

salzlg. thirsty

d~r;>tlg poisonous

g.ftlg

Noun + isch for nationality: osterreichisch

griechisch

europaisch

Austrian Greek European

Wordbuilding/159

Noun + -los (similar to '-less' in English):

arbeitslos unemployed (literally 'without

work')

hopeless

without problem

hoffnungslos problemlos

Verb + -bar (similar to '-able' in English):

mach bar feasible

waschbar washable

e8bar edible

un- + adj. (negative) ungenieflbar unmogfich

ungesund

inedible impossible unhealthy

3. Verbs

If you're stuck for a verb in German, take the English word, add -ieren, and give it a strong German pronunciation. More often than not, people will understand you or tell you the real German word for it.

studieren study

spezialisieren speci alize

organisieren telefonieren diskutieren profitieren diktieren kritisieren

organize telephone discuss profit dictate criticize

PRACTICE

Here are some signs which you will come across in German streets, train stations, on buses etc., which might have baffled you up to now. See if you can figure them out.

1. KEINE DURCHFAHRT

2. BAHNHOFSMISSION

3. NICHTRAUCHER

4. STADTRUNDFAHRT

5. REISEZUGAUSKUNFT

6. ABFAHRT DER FERNZOGE

7. EINBAHNSTRASSE

8. NOTAUSSTIEG

9. SPEISEWAGEN

10. SCHLIESSFAcHER

11. MIETWAGEN

12. NICHT EINSTEIGEN

13. HALTESTELLE

14. VERKEHRSAMT


Grammar patterns/l61

Next time you are in Germany, make your own list of signs. You'll be surprised how much more you understand about your surroundings.

Grammar patterns

~:et~~~;;;;~:. an overview of German grammar endings to help you

1. masculine

he/him
the who? it a your endings
no
Nom. der wer? er ein fhr kein
Ace, den wen? ihn einen Ihren -r or none
Dat. dem wem? ihm keinen -n
einem Ihrem keinem
-m 2. feminine

she/her
the it a your endings
no
Nom. die sie eine Ihre keine
Ace. die sie -e
eine fhre keine
Dat. der -e
ihr einer Ihrer keiner
-r 3. neuter

the it a your endings
no
Nom. das es ein Ihr kein
Ace. das -s or none
es ein fhr kein
Dat. dem -s or none
ihm einem Ihrern keinem
-m ANSWERS

1. Dead-end Street 2. Traveler's Aid Station 3. Non-Smoking 4. City Tour 5. Train Information 6. Departures, long-distance trains 7. Oneway Street 8. Emergency Exit 9. Dining Car 10. Luggage Lockers 11. Car Rental 12. Do not get on 13. Bus Stop 14. Tourist Offiee


4. plural

the they/them your no endings
Nom. die sie Ihre keine -e
die sie Ihre keine -e
Ace.
Dat. den ihnen Ihren keinen -n The sign of the nominative is -r or -e or no ending. .

The sign of the accusative is -n for der words, -e for die words, no

ending for das words. . . d _ f

The sign of the dative is -m for der/das words, -r for die wor s, n or

plural.

Can you see that the pattern of endings is the same for the words in each group? Learn the pattern, then you won't have to remember every single ending separately.

Minin urn endings to learn which will help you in most tenses.

uum . I' IS'

ich -e wir sre re -en

erlsie/es -t

Appendix Strong verbs/163

Appendix

Strong verbs
Infinitive English Present lmperfect Perfeci
bekommcn 10 gel bekommt bekam hat bekommen
bieten 10 offer bietet bot hat geboten
bitten (0 ask billet bat hat gebeten
bleiben 10 slay bleibt blieb ist geblieben
brechen 10 break bricht brach hat gebrochen
empfehlen 10 recommend emptiehlt empfahl hat empfohlen
essen to eat iSt as hat gegessen
fahren 10 drive fahrt fuhr ist gefahren
fallen 10 fall fallt tiel ist gefallen
tinden to find finder fand hat gefunden
fliegen lofty fliegt flog ist geflogen
geben 10 give gibt gab hat gegeben
gcfallen lop/ease gefallt gefiel hat gefallen
gewinnen 10 win gewinnt gewann hat gewonnen
halten (0 stop halt hielt hatgehalten
heiBen 10 call heiSt hief hat geheillen
helfen 10 help hilft half hat geholfen
kommen lacarne kommt kam ist gekommen
lassen to let laSt lief hat gelassen
laufen 10 run lauft lief ist gelaufen
leihcn to lend leiht lieh hat geliehen
lesen 10 read liest las hat gelesen
liegen 10 lie liegt lag hat gelegen 164/Nice 'n Easy German Grammar
Infinitive English Present Imperfect Perfect
nehmen to take nimmt nahm hat genommen
riechen to smell riecht roch hat gerochen
rufen to call ruft rief hat gerufen
scheinen to shine scheint schien hat geschienen
schlafen to sleep schlaft schlief hat geschlafen
schneiden to cut schneidet schnitt hat geschnitten
schreibcn to write schreibt schrieb hat geschrieben
schwimmen to swim schwimrnt schwamm ist geschwommen
sehen to see sieht sah hat gesehen
singen to sing singt sang hat gesungen
sitzen to sit sitzt saB hat gesessen
sprechen to speak spricht sprach hat gesprochen
stehlen to steal stiehlt stahl hat gestohJen
steigen to climb steigt stieg ist gestiegen
sterben to die stirbt starb ist gestorben
tragcn to carry tragt trug hat getragen
treffen to meet trifft traf hat getroffen
trinken to drink trinkt trank hat get run ken
vergessen to forget vergiBt vergaB hat vergessen
vergJeichen to compare vergleicht verglich hat vergJichen
verliercn to lose verliert verlor hat verloren
waschen to wash wascht wusch hat gewaschen
werfen to throw wirft warf hat geworfen
ziehen to pull zieht 109 hat gezogen Appendix Special verbs/165

ISpecial verbs - sein, haben, werden I

Sein (to be)

!n many languages the verb 'to be' is different from all the rest. Sein has irregular forms:

Present tense ich bin du bist

Haben (to have)

Haben is more regular than sein:

Present tense ich habe

du hast erhat hab (du) habenSie ich hatte

ich habe gehabt ich hatte gehabt ich harte

Imperative

Imperfect Perfect Pluperfect Subjunctive

Imperative


er ist

sei (du) seien Sic ichwar

ich bin gewesen ich war gewesen ich ware

ich werde du wirst erwird ich wurde

ich bin geworden ich war geworden ichwiirde

wirsind ihrseid

siesind seid (ihr)

wirwaren

wir waren

Werden Present tense


wirhaben ihrhabt sie haben habt (ihr)

wir hatten

wir hatten

wirwerden ihr werdet siewerden wirwurden

wirwiirden


Werden has four very different uses. ..

1. = to become, followed by a noun or adjective.

2. to form the passive (see p.47). . . I

Werden here has no meaning of its own. Its function IS merely to he p form the passive. Notice that there are no umlauts.

3 to form the future tense (see p.25). .

Again, werden is purely an auxiliary verb, helping another verb to form the future tense.

4. = would (see p.4S). . . .

Use wiirde/wiirden + the infinitive of the second verb, which goes at the end of the sentence.

Glossary of grammar terms/167

Glossary of grammar terms

ACCUSATIVE The accusative case describes the role that a noun or pronoun is playing in a particular sentence. Nouns and pronouns are in the accusative case if they are on the receiving end ofthe verb (=direct object) and also after certain other words and expressions. (See p.84.)

ADJECTIVE An adjective describes a noun. Words like 'pretty', 'big', 'thick', 'thin', 'easy' etc. are adjectives. (See p.lIO.)

ADVERB An adverb is a word that describes a verb or action. 'Slowly', 'well', 'beautifully', 'often', 'sometimes' etc. are adverbs. (See p.119.)

AUXILIARY VERBS These are verbs that help other verbs form a particular tense. For example, you use haben to help form the perfect tense (see p.IS) and werden to help form the passive. (See p.47.)

CLAUSE A clause is a part of a sentence that contains a verb. If it can stand on its own, it is called a main clause. Ifit can not stand on its own, it is called a subordinate clause. 'I went to bed' 'When 1 went to bed'

is a main clause.

is a subordinate clause.

CONJUNCTION This is a word like 'and', 'but', 'so' etc. which joins two parts of a sentence together. (See p.73.)

DATIVE The dative case describes the role of a noun or pronoun in a particular sentence. The dative is used when you want to say 'to/from a person' (=indirect object) and also after certain words and expressions. (See p.8S.)

DEFINITE ARTICLE = 'the'. (See p.94.)

DIRECT OBJECT A noun or pronoun is the direct object of a verb if it is on the receiving end of the action. Normally, the direct object comes after the verb in English, e.g. 'I ate an apple' - an apple is the direct object.


FUTURE TENSE describes actions that have not yet taken place. (See p.25.)

GENITIVE possessive. You use the genitive case to translate

English apostrophe's or 'of. (See p.92.)

IMPERATIVE = commands, orders. (See p.42.)

IMPERFECT TENSE is used for descriptive passages and incomplete action in the past. (See p.17.)

INDEFINITE ARTICLE = 'a'/'an'. (See p.97.)

INDIRECT OBJECT A noun or pronoun is an indirect object when it is not directly on the receiving end of the verb, e.g. 'I gave her a bunch of flowers' - her = 10 her and is an indirect object. (See p.88.)

INFINITIVE is the reference form of the verb that you find in word lists and dictionaries. The English infinitive always has 'to' in front of it - 'to do', 'to see' etc.

NOMINATIVE A noun or pronoun is nominative ifit is the subject of the verb, i.e. if it is performing the action. (See p.81.)

NOUN Words for people, places and things are nouns. 'Pen', 'book', 'man', 'church', 'Berlin' etc. are all nouns. (See p.75.)

OBJECT See DIRECT OBJECT and INDIRECT OBJECT.

PASSIVE This is a special form of the verb that concentrates on the action being performed, rather than on the person performing the action, e.g. 'He has been injured'; 'The baLI was lost,' (See p.47.)

PAST PARTICIPLE In English, this is the '-ed' or '-en' form of the verb, e.g. 'talked', 'eaten', 'drunk' etc. (See p.19.)

PERFECT TENSE This form of the verb describes an action that happened in the past. (See p.l8.)

PERSON = 'I', 'you', 'he', 'she', 'it'. (See p.l3.)

Glossary of grammar term~169 PLUPERFECT TENSE This form of the verb describes an action that happened a stage further back in the past than the perfect or imperfect tense. (See p.24.)

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE = 'my', 'your', 'his', 'her' etc. (Seep.120.) PREPOSITIONS are words like 'to', 'for', 'with' etc. (See p.l26.)

PRONOUN e.g. '1', 'you', 'he', 'she', 'it' etc. A pronoun is a word that refers to a person or thing. It is often used in place of a noun. (See p.99.)

SUBJECT A noun or pronoun is the subject of the verb when it is initiating the action, e.g. 'He played football' - He is the subject of the verb 'played'. In English, the subject usually comes before the verb. (See p.8J.)

SUBJUNCTIVE This is a special form of the verb used to describe actions that are in some way tentative, unreal, uncertain. The English words 'would', 'could' are usually reliable indicators for using the subjunctive. (See p.44.)

SUBORDINATE CLAUSE See CLAUSE.

TENSE Tense is the form of the verb that indicates when the action took/takes/will take place. (See p.l3.)

VERB Words like 'eat', 'do', 'sit', 'stay' etc. that describe actions states, position etc. are verbs. The verb is the focal point of ever; sentence. (See p.12.)

Index/171

days of week 151 decimal point 142

definite article 75-7, 94--6,167 denn56

der/die/das 75-7

direct object 85, 167

du 100, 103-6

diirfen 36-7

Index

familiar forms 103-4

feminine nouns 75-6,157,161 formality 103-4

future tense 25-6, 32, 168

aber 56,73

accusative 40-1, 53, so-i. 84--7, 162,167

with prepositions 126-9,135-7 adjectives no-is. 158-9, 167 endings 11tl-116; comparison 116-18; possessive 120-2 adverbs 117, 119, 167

als 25, 60,74

'any' 123--5

auxiliary verbs 25,167; see also haben, sein

ge- prefix 19, 21, 24, 30 genitive 80, 168

with prepositions 92, 135 geworden50

grammar terms 167-9

haben17,19-20,22,31-2,165 as auxiliary verb 19-20, 22, 31-2

hotel 87

bitte 34, 42

cases 8tl-93

accusative 84--7,135-7; dative 88-91,126-37;

genitive 92-3; nominative 81-3 clauses 56-60; 167

clothes 114

commands 33-4, 42-3, 55

negative 43

commas 56, 58, 74, 108 conjunctions 73-4,167 comparison of adjectives 116-18 complex sentences 56-62

danke34,68 dass 58-9, 74 dates 146-7

dative 4tl-l , 53, 8tl-1, 88-91, 111, 162,167

with prepositions 90,126-37

-leren ending of verbs 26, 159 ihr 103-6

imperative 33-4, 42-4,168 familiar form 105; verb position 42

imperfect tense 13, 17-18,30, 168

separable verbs 30 indefinite article 97-8, 168

17L/Niee 'n Easy German Grammar

indirect object 80, 88 indirect questions 59 indirect speech 57

infinitive 12, 14-15, 17-18,25--6, 29-30,42,168

in future tense 25--6; position 61; in public notices 42 inseparable verbs 21 , 32 intransitive verbs 12

inversion of subject and verb 73 irregular verbs 15, 27

kein 37,70--2,97 konnen Sf

Leute 108

man 47, 102

manner, expressions of 53 market 115

masculine nouns 75,157,161 mochte/mochten 36

modal verbs 12, 32,34-9,42 imperfect tense 38; perfect tense 38; present tense 34-5, 105

money 113 months 152 movement 127-8 mussen 36

negatives 20, 22, 43, 68-72, 97 nein 68

neuter nouns 76, 157, 161 nicht 20,22,71

position 20, 22,69 nichts 71

nieht wahr? 64

nominative 53, 80--3, 162,168

notices 42-3 nouns 75-93, 168

cases 80--93; gender 75-7; plurals 77-9

numbers 139-45

cardinal 139-43; ordinal 139, 144-5

object 11, 52, 80, 168 oder 56

officialdom 122

passive 47-50,102,168 imperfect tense 48, 50; perfect tense 49, 50; present tense 48

past participle 19-23,30,168 inseparable verbs 21; position 24,31; separable verbs 30--1; strong verbs 19, weak verbs 19

perfect tense 13, 18-24,30, 168 separable verbs 30--1; word order 20

persons of verbs 13, 168

place, expressions of 53 pluperfect tense 13,24-5,32,169

separable verbs 32 plurals 11,77-9,162

polite expressions 35, 42,45,69 position 127-8

possession 80, 92

possessive adjectives 120--2, 169 prefixes 28-30,32

of separable verbs 28-30, 32; in wordbuilding 154-7

prepositions 67, 126--38, 169 with accusative 85-6, 126--9, 135-7; with dative 90,126--37; with genitive 92,135; with prefixes 126; with relative

pronouns 108; shortened forms 126

present tense 13-16,27,29,34-5 modal verbs 34-5

prices 96

pronouns 13,39-41,83,99-109,

169

dative 40--1, 89; nominative 83; position 53, 64; reflexive 39-41; relative 106--9

Index/173

sondern 56

strong verbs 11-12, IS, 19, 23-4,27-9,163-4

imperfect tense 18, 28; past participle 19; perfect tense 19,28; present tense 15,27 subject 11,52,57,80, 169 position 57, 63-4

subjunctive 44-7,169 suggestions 36, 45

questions 55, 63-7

reflexive pronouns 39-41 reflexive verbs 12,39-41

tenses 40

relative clauses 59 relative pronouns 106--9 restaurant 115

tenses 13, 169 time 148-52

expressions of 53, 86, 98, 111, 132

time clauses 60 transitive verbs 12

sein 16--17, 30--1, 43,82,110,165 as auxiliary verb 22-5, 30--1; imperative 43; imperfect tense 17,165; in passive 49; present tense 16, 165

seit 60,131

sentence structure 51-62 complex sentences 56--62; simple sentences 51-6

separable verbs 12,28-33,61 future tense 32; imperfect tense 30; perfect tense 30--1 ; pluperfect tense 32; present tense 29

Sie 100 signs 159-60

simple sentences 51-6 sollen 37

'some' 123-4

umlaut 15,46,117 urn .•• zu61

und 56, 73

verb endings 11-12, 14-15 verb stem 12, 14,28

verb position 13, 32-3, 35, 42, 48 complex sentences 56--62; with conjunctions 73-4; in imperatives 42; modal verbs 35; in questions 63-4; simple sen tences 51-6

verbs 12-50, 159, 169 inseparable 21,32; modal 34-9,42; persons 13; reflexive 39-41; separable 12,28-33,61; tenses 13-26; types 12; strong 15,19,23-4,27-9,163-4; weak 12, 14-15, 17, 19,24,26

verbs of motion 23


weak verbs 12, 14-15,17,19,24,

26

imperfect tense 17; past participle 19; perfect tense 19; present tense 14-15

weather 114 weiI58-9,74 welcher 123

wenn 45, 58-60, 65,74

werden 25-6,32,48-9,82,110, 165

in future tense 25-6, 32; in passive 48-9

wishes 45

wollen 26, 36

imperfect tense 36; + nicht 36 wordbuilding 153-60

worden 50

word order 11, 13,20,22 with conjunctions 73; complex sentences 56-62; separable verbs 55, 58; simple sentences 51-6

wurde/wurden 48-9 wiirde/wiirden 46, 49

'you', familiar and polite forms 100, 103-6

zu 61

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